


Stenny Short Stories

by RainGoddess400



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universes or Non-Alternate Universes, Bad Luck, Blood, Characters may or will be OOC in future chapters, Characters will be listed as the stories progress, Dark/Angst (With Light Humor) Valentine Chapter, Halloween chapter with very light homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Majority Chapters Will Be AU's, May include background pairings AND hinted ones, Maybe gore in future chapters, Murder, Narcissistic Kenny???, No Smut, Other Genres will be added as the stories progress, Plotted Suicide, Romance, Shounen-ai, Some Humor, Southern Accented Kenny, Spirit Stan, Swearing, Trigger Warnings, Werewolf Stan, Will include OC's of mine, Willing to take requests of Stenny only, Yandere Kenny, hanahaki disease au, lots of fluff, this had to be done, vampire kenny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainGoddess400/pseuds/RainGoddess400
Summary: Stenny stories that will either be one, two, or maybe three shots. All depending.





	1. Giving Affection Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: The title says it all, I couldn't have been the only one craving some Stenny lol I'll come back to this whenever I have a new story idea, or if any of you'd like I can take requests but none wanting smut sorry. Just know it'll take some time for me to get to them since I'm still writing Darkness Falls (On FF.net) and Valentine Academy.
> 
> Okay so this certain AU has been on my mind for quite awhile now so I'd figured why not write it out. This might either be a two or three shot, I haven't decided yet. Guess it depends on the flow of the story. Also each story will contain a summary.
> 
> Summary: Waking up for college in the morning and going to work in the mid-afternoon was Stan's everyday routine ever since his freshman year. Now a junior, one day the daily pattern all of sudden changes when Stan is walking home from work that late evening. Something akin to whimpering caught his attention from within a dank and dirty alleyway. Being the kindhearted person that he is, he decides to help whoever they are that is in pain.
> 
> EDIT: Changed the title.
> 
> South Park doesn't belong to me and without further ado, enjoy)

**_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-_ **

The annoyingly loud alarm clock shuts up when a hand slams down on the button, blaring at the exact time it was set to go off at:  **7:30 a.m**. Stan groans longer than necessary into his pillow, a daily habit he does every morning waking up to head to his daytime classes. If it weren't for his job, he would be taking afternoon or maybe evening lessons instead. That way he could sleep for longer hours, and actually have energy to leave the comfort of his bed. Stan releases another groan at the thought as he drops his arm down from the nightstand, dangling beside the mattress.

"You're just as annoying as that damn alarm with all your groaning," he hears his roommate grumble over his inarticulate whining before yawning.

"Shut up Kyle," Stan says, voice still muffled as he extends out his arm to shoot the redhead the bird, sitting up with a yawn as well afterwards. He messes up his already disheveled hair by scratching it, using his other hand to rub his weary eyes. Both males get out of bed to get started on their day, first being a sleep reducing shower. They each grab their set of clothing and underwear before going to their separate bathrooms.

Stan and Kyle have been 'fated' best friends since children. They went to the same Elementary school, but didn't really know each other all that well until after a few activities, one of them required a partner and Stan chose Kyle. From there they even went to middle school together, however at the start of high school, Kyle suddenly had to move away. The reason wasn't anything serious, just that his parents found a decent job elsewhere out of the state.  _"A typical and lame reason,"_  Stan had thought back then. Before Kyle left though, they exchanged contact information through both cell phones and social media so that way they could keep in touch. As the years flew by, neither had anticipated that they would meet again, especially in the  _same_  college. Stan had moved out of his parents' house a year after graduating and working jobs to provide him money that would aid him while he's out on his own, his mother and father split and gave him a sufficient amount of cash, Randy complaining although he wasn't really upset about football and scholarships as he did so. They didn't do this to Shelly why? Stan bothered not to ask, and accepted their generosity with reassurance that he would use the money wisely.

Kyle must've kept him moving out and the college he was going to go to a secret, because the only implication that he shared through PM was that he wanted a degree in graphic design when they were discussing what they were going to do after graduating. Stan told him that he wanted to be a veterinarian, which led him to being questioned why when he was in the athletic field. Stan answered,  _"Football's fun an' all and I can get scholarships from it too, but I wanna try something different. Something **I**  wanna do." _Kyle found it reasonable enough he supposed, though to pass up scholarship opportunities was a big waste. They then went to talking about other things.

When the day came for all enrolled students to officially attend college, Stan had hardly changed in the physical aspect. He let his black hair grow out a little bit once he grew out of his red poof ball hat, and he kept his physique well built, the local gym being his main and only source for his work outs. Kyle, on the other hand, seemed like an unfamiliar person to him the moment he saw his lime-green eyes. He had a lean figure, not too skinny and showed no signs of definite muscle, the red hair Stan remembered being an afro that was regularly hidden underneath a green ushanka was tamed and curly that was presumably chin length, and once Stan approached him to make sure he wasn't mistaking the guy for his childhood friend, he noticed that their height was..alike? He wasn't absolutely sure, but what Stan  _did_  know was that they were almost close to being head to head. It shocked him greatly, ever since 4th or 5th grade Stan began to have the height advantage and he didn't think that Kyle would catch up to him.

Sapphire eyes blinked with a perplexed flutter, the next thing Stan saw after he'd opened his eyes was a small grin on the redhead's lips. "Good to see you too Stan." Even his tone of voice had changed, and Stan didn't know how or why he was never aware of that during their evolution of phone calls. Kyle sounded as though he was still a kid, however his voice had gotten a little deeper. Stan couldn't describe it any other better way than that.

_**/** _

Stan and Kyle are now making their way down to the cafeteria for breakfast, having spent ten to fifteen minutes getting ready. A few other students occupy the halls either as a group, pair, or solo, a teacher greets them as she walks by. Stan grunts his greeting whereas Kyle says good morning to her appropriately once she passes.

Kyle gives the noirette a light nudge. "If you don't wake up already, you're acting like Mr. DeLorne dude." He chuckles when Stan elbows him back in response, though only partly with gentle force. Chatting a little as they walk out into a breezeway leading to another building, the duo soon find themselves nearing the opened doors of the lunchroom. Voices overlapping each other can be heard even a hallway away, Stan and Kyle walk in and go to an empty spot at one of the tables so they can set their bookbags down in a chair.

Stan covers up a yawn once he places his bag down, then looks to Kyle with a tired smile. "Hey can you be an awesome friend and-"

"No," Kyle says instantly with a straight face.

Stan's smile drops into a frown. "Aw c'mon you don't even know what I was gonna say."

Kyle sighs while rolling his eyes. "Okay fine, what is it?"

The corners of the noriette's lips curve upward slightly. "Can you-"

"Nope."

Stan strikes the redhead in the arm with a playful punch, they both amble towards a shorter line.

The breakfast period lasts for about twenty minutes, then a bell rings for all students to head to their first class. The cafeteria slowly fills out, Stan looking a little less tired as he and his best friend walk out into the hallway. They go their separate ways telling the other that they'll see each other this evening, Stan hopes that the day will go by fast, or at least breeze on by while he's at work. He did consider at some points finding another job or just quitting altogether, he still has an adequate amount of money leftover, however not nearly enough to get him a car unfortunately. If he had his own means of transportation, he wouldn't really mind going from here to work everyday- with the exception of weekends since he's off on those days. But he's staying true to his word, only spending his money little at a time on things he needs, and a car falls into that category. Sucks they cost so freaking much, and renting one isn't something he wants to do.

Stan's morning classes consists of only three: the one he's sitting in right now lasts for two hours (Starting from  **8:30 a.m-10:30 a.m)** , the second class for an hour and a half because of lunch, and after lunch ( **11:30 a.m-12:15 p.m)** he goes to his last class which is until  **12:15 p.m-2:05 p.m**. From there he'd have fifty-five minutes remaining, which was plenty of time to get whatever homework he was given done or halfway finished until he had to leave.

* * *

"Be careful goin' back to the dorms kid," a coworker calls out to Stan as he exits through the front entrance. Stan waves him goodbye as he leaves from the area of the fast food restaurant. Not many people are out at this time, most are driving to and fro in their cars while the other few are walking along the sidewalks. Today is a beautiful evening, as it's always been since it's early Spring. The setting sun colored the sky a soothing yellow-orange, and the scant number of clouds casts a gentle wind through the air.

Stan shoulders the spare bookbag containing his work uniform to fish out his cell phone for the time, once it's in his hand he turns it on and the white digital numbers  **6:17 p.m** shows in the upper center of the lock screen of his deceased pet dog, Sparky. It was the first pet he ever had as a child, and it was the last when it passed away. The cause of the poor dog's death was a blind, stupid driver who wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the road in broad  _fucking_  daylight. To this very day, Stan believes that they'd  _clearly_  seen a brown creature on all fours scurrying across the street.  _Surely_  they had of.

The Marsh's could've sued the asshole, but Sharon and Randy just brushed it off saying that it was their fault for not keeping a closer eye on it and they would buy him a new dog. Stan didn't talk to his parents for a whole week after that.

Stan shakes his head to rid the past and rising anger, stuffing his phone into one of his pants' pockets. The idea of listening to some music seems inviting right now, but not only did he just pocketed his phone he also didn't pack his earphones. The evening's have been really calming as of late so he no longer saw any purpose to distract himself with songs on his playlist, when instead he can glance around at his surroundings and not miss the sound of whimpering down an alleyway he walks past.

Wait, whimpering?

Stopping with a bemused blink, Stan takes two steps back then listens intently for the sound again. When he hears it for a second time approximately thirty seconds later, he looks down the alley to hopefully see the source. He doesn't know how many minutes ticked by, the sky has darkened away from it's eventide hue, gradually letting the citizens know that nighttime is almost upon them. The street lamps take that as their cue to flicker on, but not one is near Stan's position, the closet being a block down on either side of him.

Having to lean forward a bit with the squint of his eyes for discernible visibility, a silhouette of a light color is the first thing he decries. Stan straightens his posture and brings his cell phone back out, quickly cutting it on so he can use the device's flashlight. It shines into action the moment he faces the back of his phone down the grungy looking passageway.

 _"Is that..a dog?"_ Stan perceives with a frown.

It is indeed a dog laying on it's side with it's backside facing him, a golden retriever. Sadly it's golden fur is tainted with dry blood, dirt, and some other grime he can't pinpoint. The condition it's in is extremely worrisome, if it weren't for it's rapid labored breathing and heart-wrenching sniveling it would've appeared as if it'd already passed on. Pursuing his lips into a sad line, Stan merely plants one foot on the dividing line between the alleyway and sidewalk when a person's voice from behind renders him to a startled halt.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that thing if I were you, it's been there for I think four or five days now. It's just about dead anyway."

No way, it's been down there for that long yet Stan was just now knowing about this? He feels himself gripping his phone tightly. Instead of confronting the heartless scumbag, he ignores him and goes into the alley, the man eying him for a moment before shrugging and continuing on his way. Stan lowers his phone some and keeps his footsteps light so he doesn't frighten the wounded canine, getting a closer inspection of it's injuries. Stan grimaces strongly, stopping with a decent gap in the middle of them as he gets down on one knee, not minding the dirt seeping into his pants leg. That is the least of his concerns right now.

_"Shit it's in really bad shape, and it probably came down with a fever from being out here for too long. I'd better hurry and call an..-"_

A  _very_ risky thought just occurred to him. Taking the dog to a hospital where it can get treated by professionals is the smartest thing to do, however in Stan's case he can put his veterinary medicine training to the test. He doesn't doubt himself completely just because he's a sophomore, what matters is his devotion. The primary reason why he wanted to become a veterinarian in the first place is Sparky's doing. No dog, cat - animals in general should ever experience cruel treatment a day in their life. Saving lives whether they're human or animal is far more praiseworthy than being a star football player.

Sapphire eyes gleaming with stony determination, Stan turns off his flashlight so that he can dial a familiar's number, praying to God that they'll help him out. "Hang in there just a little bit longer, I'll save you." He places the phone up to his ear as it rings, maintaining a watchful eye on the dog as he caresses a spot on it's body he thinks isn't a wound. "I won't let you die. I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Remember I'm down for requests, but no smut and for Stenny only. After I'm done with this part of the story that is. You can tell me if you want it to be an AU with other details or not an AU in the comment section. I hope you enjoyed and the next part will be up...soon?)


	2. Giving Affection (Final)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: An OC will be featured in this chapter. Please enjoy)

_"Hey Stan what's up?"_

"Alice I need you to come get me asap."

_"What's-"_

"I'll explain when you get here, I'm-"

As Stan urgently tells his friend where his location is, he not once let his eyes stray away from the helpless dog before him, petting only one spot on it's cold, soft stained fur with the greatest of care as to not agitate it's injuries.

The girl on the other line sighs after Stan finishes talking.  _"Alright fine, I'll be there in five-"_

"That's too long," Stan almost hisses. "I don't care if you have to pick me up half-naked, just get here as fast as you can. Please." And with that being said, he hangs up shutting off his phone and shoving it into his pocket. He retracts his hand away from the golden retriever to take off his bookbag, setting it to the side then unzipping it and pulling out the top garment of his work uniform.

 _"Gotta lower it's body temperature so it's fever doesn't worsen."_ Stan holds up his black polo shirt in front of his face, studying it's width and size. He lowers his arms then scans the dog's body size, deeming his shirt big enough to cover it up though it's tail and paws would be excluded.  _"It's gonna have to do."_ As gently as he can, he sacrifices his shirt as a blanket for the dog, which immediately flinches when the fabric grazes it. "Don't worry it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." It takes a moment, but the dog relaxes with a meek whimper, sensing the human's earnest tone was genuine.

Stan places his shirt down over what he assumes is a worn brown collar, the hem reaching and covering a small fraction of the retriever's limp tail. Stan curls his lips into a sad frown, the dog suddenly starts shaking releasing feeble moans of discomfort. Seems it's realized how cold it was and Stan's thin shirt is doing it's assigned job to provide it heat.

 _"Poor guy,"_  Stan laments petting the dog gently once again. He zips up his bookbag, while doing so he tries to think of some ways to carry the wounded animal to Alice's car when she arrives. Him carrying it himself is the only logical solution he comes up with. Alice, although she loves dogs, wouldn't want to get her hands dirtied by touching an injured one.

Standing up slipping one arm at a time through his bag's straps, Stan turns to look out the alleyway, clicking his tongue impatiently when Alice's shiny silver vehicle isn't parked in the spot he instructed her to be at, which happened to be right in the center of the two buildings he'd told her about.  _"Jesus Alice hurry up will ya?"_ He yearns to text her, but he knows better than to do that while the woman is driving. Wouldn't want her getting into an accident because she was texting and driving like some teenagers - even adults, have been doing.

Sighing, Stan leans his back against the brick wall and crosses his arms, drumming a finger on his arm. He looks down at the heavily breathing dog feeling his frown deepen, stilling his finger in the process. He wonders who the hell would have the audacity to severely harm their pet. An insane person that's for sure.

After waiting roughly five to ten minutes, a brief yet loud horn of a car startles Stan, swearing under his breath as he looks over to his right and sees Alice's car. "Finally," he mutters pushing himself up off the wall, he approaches the dog. He bends down, first tucking in the loose side of the shirt underneath the canine then ever so carefully scoops it up in his arms. He reassures it again once it attempted to growl at him, but all it was able to let out was a feeble whine.

Stan hurries out of the alley, being mindful not to be too hasty. The dog's light weight has him even more worried.

"Whoa is that dog okay?!" Alice steps out of her car, she has shoulder-length maroon hair and cyan colored eyes that are wide in shock and concern. "What the hell happened?"

"I'll explain everything when we get inside," Stan says making his way to the back seat. He nudges his head toward the door.

Alice unlocks the back door Stan is standing at, then rushes to open it for him. Together they settle the dog onto the leather seats, it shivers with a whimper at the coolness seeping into it's pelage, most likely upsetting it's bruises.

"We need to hurry," Stan exhorts. Alice nods her head in agreement, and they both get into the car; Stan in the passengers seat while Alice is in the drivers. After buckling up, Alice checks her rear view mirror for any upcoming cars, seeing a few in the distance. She takes this opportunity to make a quick, cautious U-turn back to her house.

**/**

"Lay it down on the couch, I'll go get the first aid," Alice says pushing the door forward and entering with Stan following. She closes it once they're inside and goes to turn on the living room light.

"And a wet rag and towel while you're at it," Stan adds hurrying to the sofa. He delicately sets the dog down on the beige cushions, making an indistinct sound as the warm pads melt away the cold. Stan shrugs off his bookbag, pushing it down and sliding it underneath a glass table in the center of the sofa and flat screen television. He removes his dark shirt from off of the dog, grimacing in horror at the illuminated display of the injuries decorating it's body. The ankle on it's right foot seems fractured. He needs to get to work, and fast.

Thankfully, Alice returns with the required items in her arms close to thirty seconds later. "I'm gonna go grab a bowl real quick." She hands Stan the first aid kit as she sits the towel down on her small table.

"Okay," Stan nods taking the kit, Alice heads to her kitchen. Stan opens the case extracting the rubbing alcohol, bandages, and etc. that he's going to use. Afterwards, sapphire eyes inspect the contusions thoroughly now that there's light, deciding to start on the retriever's ankle until he has the soaked washcloth. He grabs the roll of bandages, stretches it out at a sufficient length, then hovers it towards the ankle. Alice walks back in carrying a metal bowl filled with water and the washcloth inside it, placing the container down beside the towel.

The instant the dog felt something touch it's protruding bone, it yelps yanking it's leg away. Stan apologizes, but all he gets in return is a glare accompanied by a successful growl. The expression of sadness resurfaces on the noirette's face in the form of a straight line on his lips. He raises the bandages for the darkened hazel orbs to see. "I'm only trying to help you." Silence, the dog ever so slightly losing it's scowl. Stan forces up a small smile. "Will you let me?" He knows he's gained it's trust when it looks away laying it's head down, unbeknownst to him dubiety still lingers in it's half-lidded eyes. "I promise I'll be gentle." Alice smiles faintly at the interaction, leaning her elbows against the spine of her couch.

No other words are spoken as Stan treats the dog's remaining wounds, having to stitch one laceration that was inflicted upon it's stomach. Two hours was utilized by the time Stan finishes, he didn't stop for one second to take any sort of break. It's a huge wonder that the golden furred dog lasted so long out in the damp, filthy alleyway with these critical injuries, it was definitely infected and desperately called for proficient treatment from a doctor.

However there's one problem...

"Done?" Alice asks, currently sat in a armchair closest to Stan. She was close to nodding off, but the dog's occasional yowling and whimpering kept her awake.

Stan heaves a sigh, placing the supplies back into the kit. "It's gonna need to go to the hospital..but it has an owner."

Alice frowns. "Damn, so we couldn't of taken it tonight even if we wanted to then."

Stan nods his head solemnly, handing the kit back to Alice. "And the vet is out too since there isn't one closest." Alice hums softly in agreement, bringing forth an awkward atmosphere around them. "Know what time it is?" Stan asks after a few seconds.

Alice shakes her head. "My phone's upstairs in my room." She goes up the stairs, telling Stan to empty out the bowl for her in the kitchen as she leaves.

Stan pulls out his cell phone and turns it on, seeing that he'd gotten a text as he reads the time:  **9:09 p.m**. How he didn't feel it vibrate is beyond him, but he figures the message is from Kyle; he replies back saying that he's over at Alice's and he'll see him tomorrow. He shuts his cell back off and sets it down on top of the transparent table, then stands up with it's help. Working fervently made him disregard the lack of proper circulation in his legs, which tingles uncontrollably once the blood flows properly through them, he shudders. He takes a hold of the metallic bowl, the once clear water now a murky red.

Before going to the kitchen, he spares the dog a glance, seeing it fast asleep though breathing heavily. He'd forgotten about it's fever, but it looks so peaceful. It honestly deserves to rest as much as it can undisturbed considering all that it had endured. An ordeal Stan doesn't know anything about. But he must do something about it's fever.

In spite of that, he smiles, because he feels proud in himself. He feels as though he's accomplished two goals tonight, the first one being the dog's personal medic and the second one is that he demonstrated that not all humans are cruel beings.

**.......**

It's a few minutes past midnight when Stan stirs from his restful sleep, the cause was a persistent nagging feeling he'd acquired after leaving the golden retriever be. He's in the guest room, or rather  _his_ room Alice deemed it since he frequented her home during breaks and sometimes over the weekend, only when she wasn't busy. Plus she doesn't live that far from the college he goes to, unlike Kyle. He doesn't even live anywhere around or remotely close to the university, from what he told Stan.

With a yawn, the noirette slips out of bed and exits the room, bare feet padding along the carpeted flooring until they touch the steps. He goes down them slowly, rubbing one eye then the other as he reenters the living room, with an abrupt halt. It isn't too dark, and it's thanks to the diaphanous colorless curtains allowing in lighting from the moon and bit of the street lamps.

Stan tries to identity the very faint sound coming from within the room, aware that it's originating from the dog. He approaches the sofa and peeks down at the mammal, giving it a look of sympathy at it's shaking curled form. An actual blanket is supposed to be covering it, but where it is now is a bundled pile on the floor. Stan rounds the armrest to squat near the dog, hesitant to place a comforting hand on it's head.

But he can't just sit here and let it continue to suffer, not when it was sound asleep hours prior. Perhaps it's fever is the source of it's pain, seems decreasing it's temperature wasn't enough.

_"What else can be done...?"_

As if it'd sensed Stan's depressing thought, the dog weakly cracks one eye open to witness the kind black haired human frowning, his hand hovering in the air. Somehow, his presence alone puts the retriever at ease, unfortunately some leftover images of a drunken man wearing a red cap clutching a broken beer bottle, a red haired woman screaming at him, and two children (A boy and a girl) helplessly watching the exchange from in the hallway remain.

Stan gets the push he needs when tears suddenly trail down from the dog's eyes, wanting so badly to embrace it into a hug than meagerly caress it's ear and head. He can feel his own orbs ready to shed some salty liquid, he's never seen an animal cry before but it's just as sad when people do it.

"It's okay buddy...-" Stan stops himself upon a stray tear tickling his cheek, his hand motionless atop of the dog's head. He doesn't say anything else, however the silence that follows isn't uncomfortable and soon both human and dog find themselves drifting off into a relaxing slumber once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: In case no one has figured it out yet, the golden retriever was Kenny. I had originally wanted him to appear as a human at some point but I couldn't make it happen anywhere so I'll save that for another story. Coming up next is a request I'd gotten, and it's gonna be a one-shot? featuring Mysterion x Stan. I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soonish)


	3. Tired But Don't Worry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Okay since this is my very first time writing Mysterion/Stan, bear that in mind and try not to cringe too hard while reading this.
> 
> Summary: It was practically normal for children to be into superheros at their age, and the kids from South Park were no exception. Even taking it far as to get involved in actual crimes and other lesser things at the mere age of 10 yrs old. Keeping all what they did a secret from their parents. It continued until the children entered middle school, then they one by one began to 'retire' and focus on their future.
> 
> All except one...
> 
> Please enjoy)

It is customary for both days and nights to be unpleasantly cold in South Park, regardless of the season. Winter reigns supreme over the balmy Spring, the torrid Summer, and the composed transitions of warm and chilly temperatures in Autumn, giving them not the tiniest of chances to present their own weather to the citizens within the small town.

Usually on nights such as these, Kenny would be asleep in his room, eager for morning to come so he could wake up, do his usual, minimal routines, then head off to school.

However on this particular night, although this isn't the first, Kenny's or rather  _Mysterion's_  silhouette eyes the McCormick's bungalow from their backyard. Good thing no one but himself is outside in these parts, plus him being in the backyard prevented the stir of any commotion about his evident bright eyes. Well that wouldn't have been an issue anyway, not even junkies would still be up at this late hour. Inside the bungalow, every single light source unillminated, the only sound that can be heard is loud snoring and indistinct mumbling telling the snorer to shut the hell up.

No sniffling, whimpering or muffled crying- nothing urgent that called for Mysterion's services. Not since the third night at least. However Mysterion still made an appearance just in case, it's a superhero's motto to be safe than sorry.

Feeling satisfactory at his accomplishment, the hero smiles faintly to himself, only for it to shift into a serious frown. Just because one place is free of harm and sorrow doesn't mean the rest of the town fell into the same categories.

Like a gust of wind, his figure is gone, quickly making his way to a building tall enough to overlook the small town. With the eyes of a hawk, he scans every inch of the city for any disturbances or anything out of place. The roads are bare of any cars, as well as the sidewalks of any pedestrians. Most of the shops are closed, and a group of shady individuals deem one of them as their starting point to steal some goods. Being smart not to be near any street lamps.

Narrowing his eyes, Mysterion leaps down and approaches the four masked men in black with ninja stealth, his presence going completely unnoticed until-

"Stop right there."

The men instantly freezes in their tracks upon hearing his gruff voice, turning their head back to see the vigilante glaring at them. They share a momentary glance at each other, then look back at Mysterion.

"Aren't you too old for that getup?" One of them asks inspecting the teenager's height.

"Weirdo's wearing underwear on the outside," another points out with a laugh, the other three following suit once they notice.

Mysterion starts to approach them, fists tightening and eyes slanting further. "Leave or prepare to face the consequences of attempted robbery." They laugh even harder at his threat, and being obnoxiously noisy at that. It's like they  _want_  to draw attention their way, bunch of idiots.

The next thing one out of the four knew, a punch in the dead center of his face has him sprawling back against the man behind him, both falling and crashing through the front door made apparently of thin glass. The shattering brittle shards accompanied by the shrill burglar alarm disrupts the once quiet neighborhood even more.

The laughing stops then, and the remaining two glimpse back in shock at their fallen companions then at the scowling teen. "F-fuckin' freak!" One stutters while the other wastes not another second to make a break for it. Mysterion takes care of the guy in front of him before he could follow after the other guy, then catches up and knocks out the escaping robber just as easily.

Afterwards, Mysterion drops off the unconscious group, one by one, into a pile in a nearby alleyway. After dropping the last body off, Mysterion spares an examining glance at the damage dealt onto the store, frowning though grateful at the broken door. At least nothing else suffered the same fate.

The distant blare of sirens has him vacating the area, going to his final stop of the night: The Marsh's residence.

At this unknown yet obviously past midnight hour, every civilian with the exclusion of Msyterion is supposed to be sleeping soundly in their homes. But the hero knows, days prior to now in fact, that he isn't the only person awake.

Once he's at his destination, camouflaging himself in the large shadow of the Marsh's abode, he sees light gleaming through the curtains of Stan's (A.K.A Toolshed's) bedroom window. A seemingly regular occurrence these few previous nights.

Mysterion's lips straighten into a line. Since night four and onward, he always questions why the noirette would stay up till the crack of dawn, presumably doing nothing but sitting or laying in his bed. What is his purpose for doing so? Does he  _want_  to make the dark bags under his eyes darker? These sleepless nights are taking an evident toll on him, even more so the football team which makes him far more sluggish throughout school.

_Just what is making him do this?_

"I knew it."

It takes a lot to startle the stone cold vigilante, not once did he imagine himself flinching like he'd gotten stung by a bee at the soft crunches of snow followed by the subdued sound of Stan's voice. Raising his head, Mysterion shields his eyes at the bright intrusion of a flashlight with his cloak.

"I thought we grew outta this Kenny," Stan says, still keeping his voice low. He clicks the flashlight off and stops, leaving a two-step gap between them.

Mysterion lowers his arm, frowning at the teen wearing his brown jacket over his pajamas and some old sneakers. "Grew out? You're making it sound like I'm going through some phase."

"Because you practically are dude," Stan says mimicking his frown. "We aren't kids anymore. In two more years, we'll be graduating and- Hey wait!"

Mysterion was walking away, having heard enough. Stan doesn't understand. Just because he and the others gave up on saving  _their home town_  doesn't mean he will do the same. The police aren't the best after all. And besides, whenever the day comes that South Park will no longer  _truly_ need his help, then he'll just stick to looking after his family. They're the prime reason why he hasn't given up being Mysterion. And he won't stop even as he continues to age, not until they too no longer require his secret protection.

"Go back inside and get some sleep, you should really stop staying up so late."

"Then cut this out and start living normally like the rest of us. Please."

Mysterion feels himself pausing mid-step after hearing the strained, desperate plea Stan uttered. Slowly, Mysterion turns his head around, halting with visible eye widening when he meets the glistening sapphire pair, the dark circles prominent underneath the ascending moonlight though slightly shadowed by looming clouds.

Reducing his eyes back to normal size, Mysterion turns his whole body to face the other, lips curling back down into a deep frown. "Stan, you know I can't do that," he whispers in his real voice, looking off to the side and down at the ground. "I've never been able to live 'normally' from the start."

A short silence hangs in the wintry air as Stan takes some steps forward, feet scrunching snow until they are aligned with brown boots. "Kenny, I worry about you," Stan admits earnestly. "And I bet you can tell thanks to these bags under my eyes, which I know you have too."

Kenny raises his head at that, genuine shock on his face. "Wait you've been-"

"Yeah," Stan says bashfully with a brief shrug of his shoulders. "I mean how can I sleep at night knowing that you aren't doing the same?" He rubs his arm with his free hand breaking eye contact. "Jus' doesn't feel right."

The teenaged hero loses his taken aback countenance, the accustomed frown making itself known once more. "How long have you known?" He thought for sure he was doing a pretty good job at keeping his small acts of heroism clandestine, it's only been a couple of nights since he started doing this and majority of him being Mysterion was for personal reasons that no one but himself should know.

Stan stops and lightly grips his arm, eyebrows knitting before looking back up at his friend. "How long have you been doing this?" He counter asks. Kenny sighs avoiding the noirette's gaze, but doesn't answer. "I'm probably not the only one who knows. Who else would be going around at night taking care of the bad guys before the cops did?" Stan continues.

The mere thought of Kyle and his famous nagging akin to an oppressive mother is enough to make Kenny grimace, holding back a shudder. "Look, it doesn't matter how long I've been Mysterion for, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon." Just when Stan is ready to voice his objection, a gloved hand gently clasps his shoulder, the owner giving Stan a small smile. "Don't worry, just go and get some sleep alright?" Kenny removes his hand and begins to walk away again, only to feel a cold palm suddenly latch onto his lowering one and render him from moving any further. He turns his head to the side looking at Stan through the corner of his eye, whose head is angled downward allowing his black bangs to shadow over his eyes.

"Just..be careful, okay?" He squeezes Kenny's hand shakily, the cold numbing the strength out of him. "I-" He shakes his head. "Everyone was really worried when we didn't see you for a whole week." By everyone he meant Kyle, a big maybe for Cartman as well as Craig and his gang, Wendy, and a few others that go to their school.

A sad smile forms across Kenny's lips. One week is  _nothing_  compared to being gone for it's usual duration of a single month. He told his friends only about his immortality once, actually he's positive that they even seen him die a few times in the past. But whenever he met up with them after his revival, they would appear as though they'ed never witnessed his deaths, as if their memories of the incidents were erased from the very depths of their minds.

Kenny grips Stan's hand lightly, causing the latter to shiver. "I will Stan. I will."

Slowly, his hand slips out from Stan's own as he turns forward and resumes on his way. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer, and quit staying up so late for my sake," Stan hears him say, the return of his rough voice sounding softer the more the distance increased.

When boots no longer crunched snow, Stan lifts his head, weary eyes staring ahead where his stubborn hero of a friend was once standing. His lips go into a line as he hurries back inside his home.

**.......**

With his eyes closed, Kenny first pulls back his hood, then takes off his eye mask. Similar dark circles are below his eyes when he opens them and frowns apathetically at his reflection through the cracked mirror in his bathroom.

To think he was the reason Stan wasn't getting any decent sleep as of late, way to make him feel guilty. Doesn't even matter that he didn't know. Kenny just hopes that Stan takes his words to heart and starts getting some much needed shut eye, he cares about him just as much.

Unfortunately for both boys, the sun is narrowly an hour or two away from rising, meaning it's going to be another torpid day in school for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: *Sweats nervously* Man I really hope this was good, Creatortan just tell me flat out if this was good or trash and I promise I won't cry about it. I just feel that compared to the other Mysterion/Stan fics (Which I know are scarce) are far better than this one. Well, I'm holding off on requests cuz I got another Stenny story in mind. I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will up ?)


	4. Evocative Premonition (Pt.1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: This story here will be the upgraded version of my 2016 two-shot Stenny fic 'Why?" Some might've thought it was pretty decent, and I did too...Two years ago lol The reason I wanted to redo this is because I felt the previous one was lacking, had some holes (The summary didn't really pertain to the story like I wanted it to), a looooot of errors such as grammar, punctuation, and whatnot, and well overall I just wanted (Needed) to revamp it. Note some or most things won't be like in the original story, however this will still have a yandere Kenny and will still be a two-shot, just a little longer than the last one since I plan to make this more in-depth.
> 
> New summary: "W-what the hell's gotten into you?" Feet trembling uncontrollably, one of them manages to take a small step backwards without falling. Clouded hazel eyes stared deeply into fear-induced sapphire ones, not a single emotion could be identified in the muddy pair. They smile at him in a sinister manner, and say...
> 
> Please enjoy)

Nightmare after nightmare.

This has been going on for four days now, Monday all the way until today- Thursday. It always had the same characters, same scenery, and same ending. Nothing hadn't changed in the faintest, and even if it had Stan wouldn't have noticed for he was too focused fearing for his life.

A short image reveals a smirking face dotted with splatters of blood, then their darkened hazel eyes containing a mischievous glint in them through his mind; sending a parade of chills down the noirette's spine. But he doesn't shudder, only blinks his eyes.

Stan woke up a minute prior to the conclusion of his nightmare, this time failing to get a frightened reaction out of him like it did in the previous days. His eyes lacking both it's usual color and enthusiasm stare up at the shadowed ceiling, apparent dark bags underneath his eyes. He stopped questioning why he started having these bizarre dreams now, he won't get any answers so there isn't a point in asking the unknown anymore. He blinks again, then looks over to the side at the alarm clock sitting on his nightstand. The red digital numbers show him that it is  **5:54 a.m.** He scowls weakly at the device, this is another thing that has remained unchanged: Waking up earlier than his normal time schedule for school, which is somewhere past 6 o'clock but no later than  **6:30 a.m.**

Heaving a small sigh, Stan throws the covers off of him and gets out of bed, reluctantly using this opportunity to get himself dressed and not-so ready for school. Usually he would be eager for Friday to come, even when it's only a day away. But not today. He would have to deal with his repeated nightmares throughout the whole weekend, and four days is more than enough. He can't even fathom how he went from dreaming random, non-scary things to one about one of his friends being a psychotic killer.

" _Shit!_ " Stan hisses, wincing at the hot water spraying down on his bare body. He quickly turns one of the knobs so warm water comes out of the shower head, and he relaxes once it does. He shakes his head to clear the fogginess in his mind, but it hardly did anything. He's still dog-tired, and the comfortable temperature of the water isn't waking him up at all. Perhaps he should've let it stay hot - sure he would've gotten severe burns but at least he would've been awake, wide-awake actually. He shakes his head again at such a foolish thought.

He gets out after approximately six minutes later, grabs a towel, and dries himself off with it. It takes up more minutes than necessary thanks to his practically inert self. When he's done, his hair slightly damp, he wraps the towel around his waist and goes back into his room for some underwear and clothes. First switching on the lamp sat atop of his nightstand, as well as his charging cell phone, and a blue and black wristband.

Unlike his time drying off, he manages to find some clothes easily. He may or may not had picked them out unconsciously, however considering his state the former is more believable. Laying on top of his dresser is a pair of black boxers, beside it is a black V-neck T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and clean white socks that were placed over the shirt. It's simple, yet it matches well with his depressed demeanor.

Stan puts his clothes on sluggishly, losing his footing when he tries to slip on his pants.  _"Oooh fuck!"_ He catches himself with the help of his dresser, the boost of adrenaline draining out of his system as he proceeds to dress himself.

Yawning after he's finished, he heads back over to his nightstand and puts his wristband on his right wrist. He then grabs his cell phone, letting it continue to charge and turns it on as he sits down on the edge of his bed, frowning at the current time-  **6:21 a.m.**

 _"Great, only nine minutes left,"_  Stan thinks, frown deepening upon noticing a notification at the lower half of his screen. He has seven new messages. He unlocks his phone to give them a quick look, immediately regretting it when he sees whom they're from.

 **From Ken (Monday: 5:37 p.m )-**  " _Yo stan how are ya? Ya doin ok cuz ya know earlier at skool u were lookin pretty pale an' thought i should up check on ya"_

 **From Ken (Monday: 5:56 p.m)-**   _"Oooiiii staaan, u there aint ya?_

 **From Ken (Monday: 5:59 p.m)-** _"...Guess not"_

 **From Ken (Tuesday: 6:05 p.m)-**   _"Dude y u avoidin me, wat did i do?"_

 **From Ken (Wednesday: 6:48 p.m)-**   _"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan teeeellllll meeeeeeeeee"_

 **From Ken (Wednesday: 10:45 p.m)-**   _"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan"_

 **From Ken (Thursday: 1:30 a.m)-**   _"Ok.. I get it, i'll leave u alone but plz tell me what the hells wrong with u lately. Is it the nightmare u told us about? am i in it? is that y u been avoiding me? if so u couldve just told me, we havent talked to each other for days dude and ur not answering my texts either... Im worried about u stan, i really am"_

After reading the last message, guilt hits Stan like a brick. But how can he possibly tell Kenny that the nightmares he's been having  _are_ the reason why he's been steering clear of him like the plague? It sounds so freaking stupid. It's already embarrassing enough that he was forced to tell it to his friends while they were at their bus stop last Monday morning, far too distraught to drive his car to school. He couldn't make up a convincing lie about his pale appearance right off the bat, so he was left with no other choice but to tell them the truth, however saying nothing more than that he simply had a bad dream. He not once looked at Kenny, who took notice though didn't question it. Kyle's concern only increased at Stan's simple response, but thankfully didn't push the issue. Cartman tried to lighten the mood by saying that he'd dreamt about his ex-girlfriend trying to get back with him, it was a failed attempt which resulted in him and Kyle arguing about how he shouldn't make light of someone's break up.

Stan chuckles humorlessly at the memory, one side of his lips curled upward faintly. Kyle's and Cartman's arguments have become half-annoying and half-funny recently.

Dull sapphire eyes blink wearily, lips going into a line as the orbs focus on the messages that were once blurry while he was in his thoughts. Without realizing it, his thumb starts pressing the letter keys on his mobile keyboard.

 **To Ken (Thursday: 6:24 a.m)-**  " _Meet me at stark's pond after school. I'll tell u everything there"_

Stan stares at his numbly-typed out text, thumb hovering over the send key. Is this really what he wants to do? Does he have the courage to tell Kenny  _everything_  about his nightmare?

Knitting his eyebrows, Stan sends Kenny his message then shuts his phone off, setting it back down on his nightstand. He closes his eyes with a heavy sigh, he sits there a moment longer before getting up and heading downstairs to fix himself some breakfast. Cereal is going to have to do since he's five minutes away from having to leave for school. Plus his parents aren't home, they left for work an hour or so earlier and Shelly has a place of her own. But she can't cook anyway.

Stan first goes to turn on the television in the living room, not caring about the channel so long as the house is no longer eerily quiet. But he can admit that silence in any form is more tolerable than hearing his sister's galling voice. Walking into the kitchen with another yawn, he reaches for a box of cereal that's on top of the refrigerator then opens it's door for a gallon of milk, well what used to be a full gallon. He places them down on the counter-top, then grabs a bowl and spoon, putting the spoon inside the bowl.

As he pours the cereal into the dish, his ears pick up on what is being said on t.v. "Two bodies were found brutally hacked to pieces in an alleyway last night, their identities unknown...-"

A second image from Stan's nightmare decides to appear right before his very eyes, and he stills; tuning out the rest of the details the newsman is saying. His eyes go wide in horror, and his body starts to tremble, the cereal box dropping and spilling all over the floor adjacent to his feet.

Fire is everywhere - a large mass of smoke travelling up to pollute the midnight sky. Dozens of bodies lay bloody and unmoving on the snowy ground, coloring the frozen white particles almost completely red. Stan gapes ahead, afraid to budge or breathe in fear that 'he' might see or hear him the moment he does either of them. This is only the calm after the storm. Every citizen in South Park is dead, except for him. He's the only person that was spared.

_"Stan."_

Hearing his name makes him flinch, but he doesn't turn to locate the person who called him. He knows whom they are all too well, even if they're tone of voice was soft and a little too happy. Footsteps began to approach him, overlapping the cackling of the fires around the area. Instincts order Stan to run, but he can't muster up the strength to move his legs. They are glued where they stand.

_"Staanley~"_

The footfalls stop and a pair of arms gently slither their way from behind to embrace him, startling him immensely. Swallowing deeply, Stan looks down, appalled by the amount of blood coating the hands and bits of their orange sleeves, staining his shirt instantly.

 _"The time has finally come, you're all mine now."_  One hand moves upward to touch Stan's face. Shutting his eyes tightly, Stan cranes his neck away from the bloody fingers.  _"Isn't that great?"_ They giggle directly in Stan's ear, warm breath ghosting over his skin causing him to shudder in discomfort. He balls his hands into fists as he shouts,

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

As if his demand were the magic words, every aspect of the destruction surrounding him shifts back to the kitchen like a gust of wind, leaving no horrid remnants of the nightmare leftover. The television is still on, a commercial is playing now.

Opening his eyes whilst panting heavily, Stan leans against the counter with one hand while the other grips at his chest. That has never happened before. That was the very first time any of his dreams appeared  _so vividly_. The raging yet abnormally beautiful flames, the dead bodies, the blood on the ground, the bloody hands,  _his_ voice - everything was  _so_.  _fucking. real_.

Suddenly, Stan's vision starts swimming, his body losing strength. The next thing he knows, his body is slumping to the side as darkness claims him.

Upstairs in the noirette's room, his cell phone vibrates and the screen brightens, indicating that he'd gotten a message.

* * *

"Mph mmph (Yo guys)," Kenny greets approaching Kyle and Cartman with a wave, who were standing at the bus stop.

They turn to him. "Hey Kenny," Kyle greets back, whereas Cartman just waves.

"Mmph mph mmmmph mmmph? (Stan not coming today?)," Kenny questions, noticing their friend's absence.

"Didn't understand a word you said po'boy," Cartman deadpans.

Kenny rolls his eyes, but loosens the strings to his hood, allowing his whole face to be visible instead of just his eyes. These guys plus Stan, his family, and Craig's gang are the only ones who've seen his face, he's still shy to show other people. "I asked if Stan was comin' today."

Kyle frowns. "I don't think he is. I texted him a minute ago asking if he was gonna drive to school, but he hasn't replied back yet."

Now it was Kenny's turn to frown, but before he says anything Cartman beats him to it. "Bet he's cryin' over whatever stupid nightmare he's had this time, fuckin' baby," the brunette scoffs crossing his arms, sounding annoyed.

Kenny doesn't retort back defending Stan like Kyle does, drowning out their bickering as he thinks back on the message he received from Stan. It's pretty obvious that he wants to talk to Kenny and him alone, so he doesn't bring it up to Kyle and Cartman. However he can't help but wonder why him and not Kyle, who's been his super best friend ever since children. Perhaps Stan avoiding him as of late is the reason why, it's possible seeing as how he finally texted Kenny back, but Kenny isn't so certain about that.

A few passing seconds later, there is an oncoming sound of a vehicle, putting an end to Kyle's and Cartman's bantering. Kenny tightens his hood to cover his face, excluding his eyes, before looking towards the source, seeing their bus coming to pick them up. Once it stops, he boards it after his friends, him and Kyle sitting together while Cartman struggles to find a seat of his own.

During the ride to school, Kyle brings up the main subject that was discussed on the morning news, something Kenny missed since he for one doesn't really pay attention to the news, and secondly their television isn't in the best condition to be watched on. He isn't all that disturbed as Kyle tells him that just last night two people were hacked to shreds until they were no longer able to be identified, he's gone through similar deaths and most were worse than that. The topic hangs in the air throughout the duration of the drive in silence, until Kyle changes it to Stan and his reoccurring nightmares. Kenny knew it was coming, the redhead is just as worried about him as he is himself.

They continue to express their concern for Stan, Kenny keeping his meeting with him a secret, until they arrive at their destination. Kenny is let down when he doesn't see Stan's noticeable light blue car parked in the school's parking lot as the bus stops near the curb. Seems he's not coming today.  _"He didn't oversleep did he?"_

The highschoolers vacate the bus and enter the school building, but Kenny stops all of a sudden, unable to make head or tail of this abrupt chill washing over him; overpowering the cool breeze. He pays no attention to the many pairs of shoes and boots walking past him through his downward peripheral, getting the  _slightest_ sneaking feeling that the goosebumps sprouting along his skin has something to do with Stan. But he isn't able to ponder any further than that into the matter, because the mutter of his name has him blinking and looking up into lime-green orbs filled with confusion and mild worry.

"You okay?"

Kenny clears his mind with the shake of his head, forcing up a smile underneath his hood. The only way Kyle knows that is thanks to his eyes. "Mmph mph mmph, mmph mph. (Yeah I'm fine, let's go)." He motions his hand for them to go inside, Kyle taking a delayed second before following.

***After School***

"Oi McCormick!" Kenny halts mid-step once he's a couple steps away from the double doors outside, turning in the direction he heard his last name being called in, which was from the parking lot. "Wanna hang out with us at Clyde's place?" It was Craig who asked. Clyde's confused, "My place?!" being somewhat of an exclaim that gets ignored by the tall teenager. Craig along with Clyde, Tweek, and Token are gathered by presumably Craig's car, Kenny can never pinpoint whose vehicle it belongs to since they alternate between drivers, but he knows it's not Token's. He would be driving a luxurious car than some pale black pick-up truck.

Kenny declines the offer, then proceeds on his way to the well-known pond. Craig watches him go curiously, now the only person standing beside the truck. Ever since Tuesday Kenny has been acting distant - talked barely even three words, and always appeared to be staring off into space. However this isn't a first, although these past two days felt different somehow, like something else entirely is troubling Kenny.

A sharp twinge on his hand has Craig snapping out of his thoughts, flinching and swearing simultaneously. "Are you gonna get in an' drive or not?"

Shooting a middle finger at Clyde, who's sat in the passengers seat, Craig sits down in the drivers seat soothing his stinging skin, then shuts the door. "Someone's jealous." Clyde flips him off in return denying his statement. He starts up the truck, backs up, and slowly drives out of the lot to Clyde's house.

Back to Kenny, who is still walking to Stark's Pond. If he weren't taking steps at a snail's pace, he would've already seen the vast water by now. But he doesn't want to seem too eager when he sees Stan, or something like that. All throughout class, lunch period included, he was more aloof than he was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hundreds of scenarios played out in his head that left him feeling borderline extremely anxious and a little apprehensive.

They  _were_  going to discuss Stan's nightmares after all.

The chills from earlier resurface, this time stronger causing him to shudder. Looking up from the ground, though he doesn't remember looking down in the first place, Kenny finds himself closing in on Stark's Pond. But the bench he expected Stan to be sitting on is empty of his presence.

Kenny stops, takes out his cell phone, and begins to call the noirette. He unfastens the strings to his hood once again before raising his phone up to his ear, which is still ringing. He continues to the pond, only to stop mid-step a second time at Stan's voicemail.

_"Hey I can't come to the phone right now, so leave a message or text me, if you're a friend, and I'll get back with you whenever I can."_

Dread mysteriously begins to settle itself within Kenny's chest. He dials Stan's number again, but goes straight to his voicemail. The third time ended with the same result. The blonde glares nervously at his phone.

 _"There's_ _no way he overslept this long..."_

Turning his cell phone off and stuffing it back into his parka's pocket, Kenny changes course - going to Stan's house. This time moving with haste.

He reaches his friend's house in no less than ten minutes, panting as he approaches and knocks three times on the front door. By the time his breathing is regulated, no sounding footsteps gave Kenny indication that Stan heard him and was coming to open the door. Kenny knocks again, harder, then does it against the living room window as well.

Neither sound alerted Stan, much to Kenny's dismay.

"What the hell?" The blonde mumbles under his breath, growing more troubled than irritated by the progressing seconds. He suddenly blinks in realization.  _"Oh yeah!"_ A thought just came to him.

He sprints to the back of the house, slowing down with a grateful smile as he nears a dead snow covered tree he and his friends remembered that stubbornly grew here when they were entering their preteen years. One lone branch stretches out towards Stan's bedroom window. Kenny, Kyle, and even Cartman couldn't help but agree with one another how conveniently placed the branch was.

_"Good thing Mr. Marsh hadn't cut it down yet."_

With practiced ease, Kenny climbs up the tree and carefully crawls to Stan's window.  _"Pleeease be unlocked."_ Kenny is more concerned about the window being locked than the wobbly branch. The last time Kenny did this was probably last week...He still hopes the window is accessible.

Once he's an arms length away from the window, Kenny tries to immobilize the branch the best he can so when he attempts to open the window he doesn't fall. Fortunately, he's successful however his luck runs short as soon as his hands try to raise the window's sash.

It doesn't move.

And because of that Kenny loses his balance.

_"O-oh shit!"_

He crashes face first into the snow, cushioning his fall to a moderate degree. At least he didn't break or sprain anything this time. Groaning while sitting up wiping the freezing snow off of his face, he comes to realize that he has no other way of getting inside the house.

...Unless...

Kenny doesn't want to do what he just thought up, but it has to be done. Stan's parents don't return home until nightfall, and that's hours away from now. Standing on his feet dusting the remaining snow off, Kenny looks around for a rock he can use. He assumes he discovers one sticking out of the snow near the fence separating the Marsh's house from the neighbors, and ambles toward it. He bends down to pick it up, inspecting it's size and deeming it sufficient for usage.

_"Here goes nothin'."_

He faces the window tossing the rock up and down, then, with one eye shut and the other trained intently on the center of the glass, he hurls the rock at his aiming target. He flinches as the glass shatters into pieces, disrupting the quiet neighborhood, and most likely the nearby neighbors as well.

Kenny quickly makes his way back up the tree, being mindful to be extra cautious so he doesn't fall again. He slips through the window with a bit of effort, hissing as the pointy edges of the glass tears into his thin parka and pants legs.

The first thing he notes is how dark the room is. Next is the eerie atmosphere.

Kenny pushes himself up on his feet, and turns on Stan's lamp. Realizing for a third time that the noirette himself isn't in his room. Kenny sees his phone resting on the nightstand, and frowns deeply. The reason why Stan didn't answer his phone call was because he didn't have it on him this whole time. Which leaves Kenny questioning where Stan is right now.

Kenny exits the room, hearing the low audio belonging to the television in the living room as he descends the stairs. Chills course through his arms and back, giving him returning goosebumps, the uncanny feeling increasing now that he's fully in the living room. That is also void of Stan's presence.

 _"Where the hell is he?"_ Kenny wonders scanning around, unnerved.

His body goes rigid upon glancing in the kitchen, eyes widening and quivering in horror. Sticking out behind the counter table on the floor is an outstretched arm with a blue and black wristband around it's wrist.

With a nervous drop of sweat forming near his hairline, Kenny takes slow strides toward the limb. "Stan?" He says softly. Getting no response.

_**'CRUUNCH'** _

Kenny stifles a startled swear word, looking down to see probably a box full of cereal scattered on the floor. He takes two more steps forward, and nearly has a heart attack at what he sees.

"Stan!"

Kenny hurries down on his knees to see if Stan is sporting any injuries anywhere, thankfully finding none.  _"What the hell happened?"_ As much as Kenny would like to piece the fallen cereal and Stan's unconscious form together, he needs to get Stan up to his room or lay him down on something soft so doesn't catch a cold. He opts to carry him to the sofa, knowing it was not going to be easy getting the slightly taller noirette up the stairs.

Hell how is he even going to lift him up? It would be  _really_ fucked up if he dragged him into the living room.

Kenny is skinny but not  _twig_  skinny, he doesn't have evident muscle on his arms however he has ways to defend himself when it came down to it.

Then a thought pops up in his head, and he feels like face-palming.

He stands up gently grabbing Stan's extended arm, hoisting him up then draping his arm across his shoulder. Kenny keeps him steady the best he can before moving towards the couch, holding both his midriff and wrist in a secure grip. He tries not to think about him holding Stan's slim waist, nor react to the tips of his hair tickling his cheek.

Once they reach the sofa, Kenny places Stan down on it's cushions as if he is a delicate object, noticing bits of cereal clinging onto his clothes. Kenny scraps them off into his hand, and goes to throw them into the trash can in the kitchen. After doing so, he frowns at the leftovers on the floor, then notices the bowl and milk on the counter. Sighing, he puts the milk back into the refrigerator, checks the bowl for anything in it, puts that into the fridge also, then locates the broom and dustpan to get started on sweeping. After throwing the cereal box away.

Amid him cleaning, he takes this time to wonder what happened. From the milk and cereal, he can deduce without a doubt that Stan didn't oversleep like he initially thought he did. But what caused him to faint? His lack of energy? That idea seems very logical. He has dark bags under his eyes, and Kenny can once again guess that it's the cause of his nightmares he's been frequently having lately.

Now Kenny really wants to know what they're about.

He finishes close to five minutes later, and he deposits the broom and dustpan back into their original spot. He returns to the living room, unsure on what to do now. Should he call Mrs. and Mr. Marsh and tell them what happened to their son? He would call Kyle and ask him what he should do, but the redhead is most likely still in his basketball meeting.

He first turns on the lamp, noting how weird it is for it to be getting dark this early, then picks up the wireless landline phone next to the lamp. He looks at the time on it's small screen, it's not even close to 5 o'clock yet. It's still in the premature minutes of 4 o'clock. He frowns confusedly at the closed window.  _"It's not gonna storm is it?"_ He puts Mrs. Marsh's number on speed-dial, but the moment he holds the device up to his ear the line instantly fails go through.  _"The line's dead?"_ He looks at the window again. If it's storming out, then why can't he hear any rain or thunder? It's practically silent in the house, save for the television.

He sets the phone down, shuts the t.v off, then walks over to the window. For some extremely odd reason, he gets a bad feeling warning him not to risk it. But he ignores it, and split apart the curtains a little to see outside.

Nothing is falling down from the darkened sky, but some of the trees are swaying wildly, proof that it is windy out. Since it seems as though it's going to storm some time later, Kenny doesn't understand why the phone isn't working as he closes the curtains.

 _"Guess I'll stay here until Stan wakes up or his parents come home,"_ he thinks going to sit in the armchair.

Not even ten seconds after he thought that did a groan from Stan emit from his throat, fidgeting as he comes to. Kenny rises to his side, getting on his knees lightly nudging Stan's shoulder with his hand and calling his name to help wake him up.

Stan groans again, feeling an ache almost all around his body. The most prominent one being his head.

"-an, wake u..-"

_"..Huh..?"_

Stan blinks his eyes open with a couple flutters of the eyelids, first viewing the illuminated ceiling of a room he's not sure he's in at the moment. He hears the soft voice again, and registers something touching his shoulder. It feels warm, compared to how cold he is, and he wants the warmth to stay. Gathering up some strength, he moves his head to look over at his side, heart lurching at the blurry figure with blonde hair so close to him.

"Stan how do you feel?" They ask, tender tone morphing from being sincere to devious in Stan's ears. Wait no..not they...Kenny. The one who's dead set on killing familiars and loved ones in this town just so they could be together.

He's  _that_ Kenny.

"S-stay away..."

Kenny makes a face of bewilderment. Even though Stan is looking at him, his eyes appear to be looking  _through_  him instead. "What-"

"I said stay away!" Stan shouts, sounding panicky. He scrambles into a sitting position, and is about to get up when Kenny's hands keep him seated.

"Dude calm down." Kenny applies firm pressure once Stan starts squirming.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

Stan pushes Kenny away, and rushes onto his feet. The blonde falls onto his butt, dazed from the unexpected shove. He observes the standing noirette, strong fear clear in Stan's pale sapphire orbs.

"Stan what's wrong?" Kenny asks standing up.  _"Could him acting like this be because of his nightmare? Did he have it while he was unconscious?"_

Anger intermixes with the anxiety on Stan's face, but his ire is weak. "You know damn well what's wrong," he seethes shakily. "Are you happy now you fucking murderer? Are you satisfied?!" Tears of pure sadness well up within his eyes.

"Murderer? What are you talking about?" Kenny is becoming greatly worried now, more so than puzzled. "Just relax alright? We can talk this over." He inches toward Stan, stopping when a low rumble of thunder vibrates the house. Kenny curses inwardly at the storm's 'perfect' timing.

Stan takes a step back, hands curling into fists at his sides. "There's nothing to talk about." He takes a moment to scan his surroundings, relived that he's in his home. "Get out." Kenny opens his mouth to protest, but Stan doesn't allow him to. " _Right now_ ," he presses narrowing his eyes further.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what the hell's wrong with you." Kenny returns the glare, but out of assertion.

An uneasy silence reigns over them as another thunderclap sounds. Outside, a silhouette stands on the opposite sidewalk of the Marsh's house.

Without another word, Stan bolts up the stairs, Kenny following after him a second late. Stan dashes into his room slamming the door shut behind him, and he locks it.

Kenny bangs on it, demanding him to open the door. Stan stays quiet, dropping onto his knees with tears sliding down his cheeks. He just wants him gone.

"Stan c'mon! Open the door, please!" Kenny ceases his pounding on the door with a huff. Then there's a few seconds of silence. "Alright fine, I'll leave," he says grumpily.

Stan doesn't believe him until he hears his footsteps retreating, and slumps against the door, mentally and physically exhausted.

Kenny opens the front door, pausing in the entranceway. If it weren't for the streetlamps Kenny probably wouldn't have been able to see jack shit outside. That's how dark it is.

 _"A car would be fantastic to have right now."_ With a tense frown of his lips, Kenny hauls his hood over his head, leaving it loose. He walks out shutting the door behind him, contemplating if he should run home or not. He considers the former, he does not want to be out here once it starts raining. Picking up speed, his mind thinks back on what transpired between him and Stan. He was acting genuinely strange.

_"Are you happy now you fucking murderer?"_

_"Was that what his nightmare was about? Me being some killer?"_ Kenny wonders dreadfully.

A car drives by, Kenny so immersed in his thoughts to notice it screeching to a stop then going into reverse. They honk their horn once for his attention, almost tripping as he utters a curse word while slowing down. He turns around just as the car pulls up near him, he recognizes this vehicle.

"Mr. and Mrs. Marsh?" He questions as the window facing him rolls down.

"Hey Kenny, want us to take you home?" Mrs. Marsh offers.

"Thanks but no thanks," Kenny gives her a small smile. "Don't wanna trouble you guys." He gets the major urge to inform them about Stan and his haunting nightmares, if he hadn't told them already. But since it seems to be centered around him somehow, Kenny thinks against it.

Sharon waves him off. "Oh we don't mind, we got off early anyway since it's gotten so dark all of a sudden. Plus it looks like it's going to start raining soon, and I'd hate for you to-" Her eyes widen. "Watch out, behind you!"

Asking no questions, Kenny moves out of the way just in the nick of time before what appears to be a katana stained with dry blood sliced his head off. Only managing to get one of the strings to his parka as his hood slips down from his head.  _"W-what the hell?!"_ He gapes at it's wielder, horror striking him strongly at their glowing red eyes, sadly unable to discern the rest of them clearly due to there being no light source close by.

"Kenny are you-Randy what in God's name are you doing?!" Randy drives them away, carelessly going to their house. Kenny mentally calls Randy a dick for leaving him like that.

"Hmph, they're not for me to kill anyway," the person, a male, mutters.

Kenny takes some steps back, ready to run when- "I don't want to hurt you Kenny, so don't even think about running away."

Against his will though it was for the better, Kenny goes into a standstill. Sauntering onto the sidewalk is a fairly visible figure Kenny least expected to see out here, last he recalled they left for work at the gas station this morning and isn't supposed to be home till the late evening.

"K-Kevin..?" Kenny gasps. "What-why-"

He is interrupted by Kevin holding out the deadly weapon towards him, a tassel dangling from the end of the handle. "You are this blade's rightful owner, take it. He wants you to posses him," he says monotonously.

Kenny eyes the blade fearfully, he backs away from it. "I-I don't know what you're talkin' about. Where did you even get that thing from anyway?!" He sees his older brother narrow his eyes, taking a step forward.

"Until now I was just his means for finding you, but enough talk, he's getting impatient."

"...Would you...be freed from him if I took it?" Kenny asks subconsciously, worried about his brother's well-being than his own even with his lack of knowing who this 'he' is.

Kevin is quiet for a second. "Yes I will be spared. So, have you decided to take him?"

Kenny bites his bottom lip averting eye contact, still hesitant. Much to the katana's dissatisfaction.

_**"Take him to a secluded place. If he persists to refuse me, then we'll have no other choice than to use force. I must have him."** _

A fleeting expression of conflict shows on Kevin's face, but he doesn't disobey. "We will continue this elsewhere," he announces dryly.

Before Kenny knows it, he along with his brother are gone.

Lighting flashes in the clouds as thunder resonates around the town, but not a single drop of rain has fallen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Yeah...this is most likely gonna be a long two-shot lol I really hope you enjoyed and the next part will up soon?)


	5. Bloodshed For ___ (Pt. 2- Final)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Last part to 'Why?' Please enjoy)

"Stan, open the door!"

Snapping his eyes wide open, Stan jolts away from the door, startled to have been woken up from his short, unintentional nap. Panting a little, he gapes at his bedroom door, flinching when it starts getting abused again.

"Stanley?! Are you in there?! Are you okay?! Answer me!"

"..Mom?" Stan mutters out in a small, raspy voice, wondering why she sounded so frantic. He gets up and nears the door, placing a shaken hand on the knob before slowly twisting it to the side and pulling it back. He is immediately embraced into cold, soft arms, he shudders.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," his mother says breathlessly. She pulls back, and her next set words change when she sees her son's sickly appearance, frowning deeply in concern. "You're so pale," she places a gentle hand over his forehead. "This isn't good..." Then her eyes widen, looking past Stan. "Oh my God, what happened to the window?!"

"C'mon! We gotta get a move on!" They hear Randy shout from downstairs, tone matching Sharon's just now and seconds ago.

 _"The window?"_  Before Stan can look behind him, he feels his mother grab him by the arm and hurries them down to join the man in the living room, telling him that she'll try to explain what's going on the best she can even though she's still just as confused.

Once there, they see Randy going to peek out through the curtains, Sharon tells Stan to put on his jacket and shoes as she nears her husband. He stares confusedly at them for a moment before doing as told, fighting against the dizziness in his vision. "We need to take Stan the hospital, he's come down with a fever."

Moving away from the window, Randy clicks his tongue, looking troubled. "The worst time to get sick," he grumbles.

"Randy," Sharon chides.

"Okay okay, let's hurry up and go." Randy walks toward the front door, Sharon follows. "I didn't see that freak out there so I think we're safe to go back out."

Sharon experiences a short burst of relief, frowning slightly when she asks, "But what about Kenny?"

Stan, who was slumped against the wall near the door, stiffens at the mention of his friend.

"Didn't see him," Randy answers shaking his head.

Sharon glares at him accusingly. "If you hadn't of driven off, we-"

"We what?" Randy interrupts. "Could've gotten ourselves killed along with him?"

Sharon hesitates for a fleeting second. "He is still a child..-"

Stan drowns out his parents' arguing, working his jaded brain to think back on what had happened between him and Kenny. Sadly, the first thing that comes to mind is the psycho Kenny that always haunted his dreams. He clenches his eyes shut and shakes his head lightly to rid away the upcoming disturbing image. After having the nightmare, he remembers waking up and very vaguely seeing said teenager right next to him, hearing his voice confirmed his identity.

However not his  _true_  identity.

Stan was so distraught thinking that his nightmare had finally came true that he didn't have the sanity to distinguish that from reality. Would Kenny had really seemed so flummoxed towards the way he was behaving? Not only that his entire frame was free of any blood, plus he didn't have that damned sword. Stan can consider the possibility that he showered and washed his clothes, and hid the sword somewhere; feigning ignorance to deceive Stan.

And it worked.

That's why he asked,  _"Are you happy now you fucking murderer? Are you satisfied?!"_ Because he really thought that Kenny was deluding him into believing that he had no idea what he was talking about.

Kenny  _actually_ didn't know. And now, Stan feels beyond foolish for how he was acting...

He drops down onto his knees, appearing distant with dreadful guilt on his face.  _"...I'm so stupid..."_

Seeing him collapse, his mother and father approach him. "Stan?!" His mother's voice sounded so far away in Stan's ears, like she was outside. "Don't worry, we'll take you to the hospital." Even though she's so close, she still sounded so far. Hands help him back on his feet, seeing the door being pulled back but not the person doing it.

_**"Stanley-kun."** _

Stan blinks his eyes at the unfamiliar voice that spoke inside his head.

_**"Forgive me for the sudden intrusion, but your presence is greatly needed."** _

Not given enough time to question both the male and his reason for needing him, Stan is abruptly transported to the man's unknown location.

Sharon and Randy are left speechless in total shock, staggering once they comprehend that their son had just disappeared.

"Where the hell..?!"

"Stan?!"

* * *

***Minutes Prior to Stan's Disappearance***

Kenny glances all around at his new destination, both bemused and skeptical. He and Kevin are in a vacant area within the woods. Kenny hasn't been here enough times to know that there's always been such a spot in this place, but the cleanly cut off stumps of the surrounding trees is obvious indication that a supernatural force did this. Definitely not done by a human.

As a low rumbling of thunder rolls in, Kenny scowls nervously at his older brother, who stared back blankly. Unaware of the worry swirling around in the corrupted red pair.

"What're are you guys plannin' to do now?" Kenny directs his glare towards the katana. "Gonna threaten me into takin' that thing?"

Kevin doesn't respond back, just frowns at him. Gripping the handle firmly, he stabs the blade into the ground then takes a few steps away from it. Kenny raises an eyebrow at this, but is startled when the entirety of the sword starts glowing in a aura similar to the snow below. Thanks to it's bright radiance, the handle that's black with green diamond shaped patterns, the tsuba (Collar) a bloodstained silver, and a white tassel are all apparent for Kenny to see.

Soon, the aura begins to shrink, causing the katana itself to shine then slowly transfigure into a human shape. Just as the light starts to dim away, Kenny sees his brother drop to the ground.

"Kevin!"

The revealed individual sticks out a hand, silently signalling him not to move. Kenny is about to protest, but once he looks at the being, he is greatly taken aback by their appearance. A mild gust of wind blew the abnormally handsome man's long black hair that has a white ribbon binding it into a ponytail, and a green  ** _haori_** designed with a black flower vine sprouting near the right side hem. Under the jacket he wore an all black kimono and hakama with a white obi. On his feet are a pair of black tabi socks and  ** _getas_**.

"Do not worry." At a leisure pace, the man opens his angular shaped eyes the moment the chilly breeze starts dying down into a still. "Your  ** _onii-san_** is okay, he just fainted and after a proper rest he'll be back on his feet." Calm, rich red eyes stare into stupefied hazel ones. The noirette lowers his hand to his side, using neither words or hand movements to send Kevin off to the inside of the McCormick's not-so comfortable bungalow.

There is a beat of silence after that, Kenny blinks his eyes with a dumbfounded flutter. "My what? Where'd my brother go?"

The man stares at him silently for a few seconds. "I don't mean to be rude, but where do you think I sent him?"

Kenny blinks incredulously before glaring at the male. "How the fuck am I supposed to know?! You probably sent him out to outer fucking space or somethin'!" He shouts with exasperated hands.

Cocking his head to the side, the noirette frowns his lips slightly. "Outer space you say? Would you'd rather I sent him there instead of your home?"

Brief silence as Kenny was almost close to believing that the Asian man had did his last statement. "Where did Kevin go?" Kenny repeats his question sternly, hardening his scowl.

Maintaining his frown, the noriette bends his body forward with his arms straight at his sides. "Please rest assured that I mean you and your family no harm," he stands upright again. "I've come to you, specifically, with purpose. But first let me introduce myself, I am  _Akuma_ Kurai, a lost soul that was cursed into becoming a life consuming blade for fraudulent deeds." A momentary flash of a mysterious emotion shows in Kurai's eyes. "I have been searching for a suitable wielder for centuries, and at long last..." He smiles faintly at the teen. "I've found one." He bows again. "I have come here to take you as my Master, Kenneth McCormick- ** _sama_**."

Kenny is at a lost for words, there's no way he can wrap his head around this so soon. He shakes his head. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to find someone else. I-"

"No other human is fitted to wield me Kenneth-sama, their life span will decline at an even faster rate if they so much as touches me for a mere couple of seconds."

Sudden realization dawns on Kenny, and his heart drops. "Wait but Kevin-"

"He will be fine," Kurai hurriedly reassures. "I'm able to shorten the life consumption so he won't pass on too soon."

Very slowly, Kenny balls his hands into fists, eyes narrowing in returning anger though this time stronger. "So you lied to me, you clearly fucking said that you weren't gonna hurt my family yet Kevin is gonna die! What's the point of shortening someone's life when they're still gonna die in the end?!"

Kurai suppresses a smile.  _"He caught on quickly, all the more reason I should have him."_ He frowns deeply, expressing false regret that Kenny isn't aware of. "How he dies is up to him and his future decisions. However I do apologize for not being straightforward with my wording," he bows once again. "Please forgive me."

Kenny has the itching urge to punch this deceitful bastard in the face, but doing that wouldn't do him any good. "Tch, fuck you I'm outta here." He turns and runs away, baffling the Japanese man when he hears his rapidly retreating footsteps. He watches him go with his lips forming into a line.

As Kenny makes his way out of the woods, trying to not to trip over the twigs and roots in his path, a strange feeling erupts within his head and a voice follows.

 _"I understand that you're upset with me, but you still haven't agreed to becoming my Master. I'm sorry but you've let me with no other choice,"_ says Kurai.

What the hell is he going to do, Kenny wonders apprehensively. He picks up speed upon seeing a clearing as well as a figure wearing a brown jacket sat underneath a street lamp on the sidewalk. Even though he doesn't know whom they are, he hopes they can help him somehow. But he then feels that he shouldn't get them involved in this bizarre situation, unaware that the person already is.

Kenny glances back, indecisive if he should feel relieved or anxious when he doesn't see Kurai tailing after him.

"K-Kenny?!" Facing ahead, Kenny skids to a stop, the person now standing and staring at him with wide eyes. "You..are Kenny, aren't you?" Sapphire eyes scan Kenny's body for any blood or the deadly weapon in his possession, immensely at ease when he spots neither on him.

"W-what're you doing out here?" Kenny pants. "Actually screw it, we gotta get somewhere safe." He takes Stan's hand and they run off down the sidewalk.

Bewilderment and worry crosses over on Stan's pale face. "W-wait, what's-"

"I'll explain as soon as we get to your house," Kenny says.

"I'm afraid that won't happen."

Kenny and Stan are forced to stop when a man abruptly appears in their way, Kenny glaring at him nervously while Stan seems to be struggling to keep his eyes open. The shock not strong enough to overpower his fever.

"I wanted to go about this with minimum resistance, but that was just foolish wishful thinking," Kurai shakes his head dejectedly.

"Leave Stan outta this," Kenny demands tightening his grip on Stan's hand.

"Kenny what's going on?" Stan asks wearily, going into a coughing fit afterwards and hunching down onto his knees.

Kenny immediately turns and gets down on his level, noticing how warm and clammy Stan's hand is getting even though it's freezing out. _"Oh no, is he sick?"_

A sinister smirk grows across Kurai's lips. "How unfortunate, seems he has a fever," he says, sounding not the least bit empathetic. "I would've left him be if Kenneth-sama wasn't so stubborn. Decide quickly if you want to spare this boy any future torment."

Kenny bites on his bottom lip, seemingly ignoring the man behind him though he heard every word. Why should he be feeling guilty for doing something any normal human would've done if they found themself in this kind of predicament? Who in their right mind would ever consider agreeing to-

"K-Kenny..." Stan's hoarse voice pulls him out of his thoughts. He purses his lips sadly when he examines Stan's face, looking about ready to past out at any given second.

Kenny averts his gaze towards the ground while gritting his teeth, his blonde bangs covering his glossy eyes.

Who does he care for the most at this moment: Himself or Stan?

"..Fine.." Letting go of Stan's hand, Kenny stands up turning to face the human katana with a glare. "Leave Stan alone..and I'll do it."

Kurai agrees with a small smile. Just as Stan opens his mouth to question Kenny on what he was going to do, he is returned to the living room of his home, sitting on the sofa in a daze. His parents voices are within earshot from upstairs, both wondering where their son had suddenly gone. Stan feels extremely lethargic and confused, who was that man that randomly showed up out of nowhere? He obviously isn't a civilian of this town, in fact he didn't seem from this country with what he was wearing.

_"Kenny, what have you gotten yourself into?"_

His eyes losing their strength to stay open, Stan's body slumps sideways onto the couch, sleep claiming him instantly.

"Let's head back into the woods, can't have unwelcoming eyes witnessing what's about to unfold." Kenny resits the urge to roll his eyes, the only people outside are themselves and there aren't any nearby houses so who could possibly see 'what's about to unfold'?

Instead of teleporting them to their previous destination, Kurai walks there, not looking back to see if Kenny is following him or not.

Kenny glances up at the sky, realizing that it hasn't thundered for quite some time now, nor has it rained yet either. The clouds still appear dismal.

_"Wasn't gonna storm after all."_

With a sigh, Kenny reluctantly reenters the woods with a heavy heart.

* * *

_"I'm so sorry..."_

_Flickering flames danced around two teenagers, however no bodies littered the ground. Just puddles and splotches of blood of where the bodies are supposed to be. Stan frowns dubiously at the blood covered blonde before him. Usually he'd have this perturbing smile on his face, but right now he's not making such an expression. Instead he's frowning._

_Kenny looks down at the katana, raising it near his stomach. He grimaces at the blood covering the blade almost as a whole, clenching the hilt tightly. "I didn't want to do this. I..." He shakes his head lowering his weapon, blonde bangs tinged with red hanging past eyes, that are starting to tear up._

_Stan can't tell if he's being genuinely remorseful, but he's not going to forgive him. He killed not only his family and friends, but every single person in South Park._

_He doesn't deserve forgiveness._

_Stan looks off to the side. "Your apology doesn't mean shit to me."_

_The tears spill as Kenny curls his lips into a sad smile. "Yeah, I thought so." He lifts his head to look at Stan through blurry vision. "But I really am sorry, I had no choice."_

_Stan forms his hands into shaking fists, feeling himself getting angry. "You had no choice?! That's bullshit-" His eyes widen in disbelief at the tears streaming down Kenny's cheeks. A strange ache pierces his chest._

_Kenny drops the katana, it lands with a dull 'crunch' in the snow. "I'm really," red bubbles surface within his eyeballs and the clear teardrops change into smears of blood down his face. "Really sorry."_

**.....**

Stan blinks his eyes open, lips curling downward. Evening sunlight gleams through the closed white curtains and colors the white room. Rubbing the haze from his eyes, he gives the ceiling a perplexed stare.

_"I'm in the hospital?"_

Before he can begin to fathom why he's in the hospital and not at home plus this mysterious feeling dwelling in his chest, a faint crackling noise catches his attention. He sits up carefully, looking intently at the window beside him. The thickness of the drapes make it a little difficult for Stan to discern the yellowish orange hue outside, but he does know one thing. Whatever's making that sound isn't sitting well him.

At all.

Removing the sheets off of his body, Stan sees himself wearing the hospital's pajama clothes. He swings his legs over the bed towards the window, planting his bare feet on the cool tiles of the floor with a skin-tingling shiver. He slowly stands up, using the bed as support until his legs are able to keep him stable. He frowns nervously at the window before nearing it, swallowing the lump in his throat. The snapping sounds are louder than when he was on the bed once he closes the small distance, his heart rate increasing as he raises trembling hands to split apart the curtains. He does so in quick motion, and what greets him leaves him gaping like a fish out of water.

It's fire. What he thought was the sun is actually fire. And it has spread widely throughout the town.

Buildings, dead trees, cars, and even people are being burned to nothing but ashes.

 _"N-no way..t-this can't be..."_ Stan takes wobbly steps back from the window, his eyes unblinking.

He believes that he is somehow undergoing a nightmare, which he quickly questions about the recent one he just had.

No, that was no nightmare. But was it a dream or a prophecy of some sort?

Well whatever it was left Stan confused, however the unyielding flames outside doesn't grant him the time to muse on it. But he doesn't know what to do, that is until loud screams coming from multiple people resonate from down the hallway. He rushes toward the door, pushing it open with so much force that it struck the wall with a powerful  _'thunk'_.

Down the right, fire had managed to get itself inside the hospital, blocking off either exit or entry from the other hallway and most likely from the entrance on the lower floor. A group of patients stood panicked in the middle of the corridor, a few women crying and asking each other how they are going to escape while the men tried to calm them down.

All of a sudden, before the patients and Stan even knew it, the flames surge forward as if someone had poured a large amount of gasoline into it. Incinerating the helpless group into nothingness.

Stan falls back onto his butt with a startled cry, summer wind blowing his hair and clothes until the source dies down. The entire hallway is scorched black, and the drapeless window two doors down from Stan's room's left was burst open.

 _"W-what the fuck..just happened?"_ Stan's whole body is shaking with absolute fear. That was by far the scariest thing he's ever seen in his life, it topped seeing Shelly's horrendous face back when she was still living at home hands down.

Stan blinks when he feels water rising within his eyes, tears one by one rolling down his cheeks.

 _"So Shelly's the only family I have now. There's no way mom and dad survived the fire out there."_  His tears pick up speed.  _"Kyle, Kenny, and even fatass. Everyone that I cared about and knew...are all dead."_

He brings his knees up to his chest, and folds his arms on top them, burying his weeping face into his arms. He feels as though he's the only survivor in this town, everything around him seems so empty. The vast fires are void, even it's heat.

_"Stan?"_

Said teen's body goes taut. That voice just now..-

_"Stan can you hear me?"_

Stan slowly lifts his head a bit, mouth covered by his arms.  _"Y-yeah_ , _I hear you Kenny but-"_

_"Where are you?"_

_"..I'm in the hospital, how are you..talking to me like this?"_

Kenny goes silent for a moment.  _"That's not important right now, you're not hurt anywhere are you?"_

_"No."_

_"That's good,"_  Stan perceived the genuine relief in Kenny's tone.  _"Kurai's gonna bring you to where we are. Get ready."_

Stan raises his head in shock.  _"Who-"_

He is only able to think that one word before he's once again transported from his spot against his will.

* * *

Stan finds himself standing in an empty area within the small town, the ring of fire around the city had melted all the snow so his feet aren't too cold. He scans his surroundings, gasping with widening eyes when he sees eight non-burnt bodies laying side by side on the ground. Dead. Stan knows whom all of them are instantly with sinking dread.

They're his friends.

_"Oh my God..."_

Soft footsteps walk up to the heartbroken boy, in the person's right hand is a heavily bloodstained katana. A constant flow of red droplets paint the ground even more in unrefined splatters. They let go of their weapon, it creating a loud enough impact to the ground to jolt Stan back to his senses. His heart jumps in his throat when red, blonde, and faint orange appear in his field of view.

"It's okay Stan, everything is okay," Kenny coos with a sweet smile, the blood on his face making the expression far more disturbing.

Compressing his hands into fists, Stan composes himself gritting his teeth tightly. "Like hell it is!" He punches Kenny square on the cheek, glaring at his stumbling form with shiny orbs, fresh tears pouring from them. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! You fucking killed everyone, our friends Kenny, and you say everything's okay?! The fuck's wrong with you?!"

Disregarding the pain in his cheek, Kenny cocks his head to the side, looking like an innocent puzzled child. " _Our_   _friends_?" He blinks his eyes once, then shakes his head. "No Stan, they weren't anything like that, and I'll tell you why." He goes to pick up the katana, he  _chiburi's_ the blood off of it with a single flick, splattering across the ground in a thin, long line. Dried blood remains on the blade. He walks over to the corpses. "You see, these guys here have done things that neither you or me were aware of. Well, until I got a hold of this sword."

 _"Sword...?"_ Upon looking at said weapon, Stan's blood runs cold. "Kenny, where did you get that from?"

Clouded hazel eyes stare at him impassively. "Why don't we start with Kyle Broflovski first?" Ignoring Stan's demand, Kenny's countenance alters darkly. "The person you deemed as your 'super best friend'." Stan watches him walk over to Kyle's body, frowning in bitter sorrow at the redhead's corpse. Kenny scowls coldly at his former friend, then looks back at Stan. "Let me ask you, has Kyle ever kept any secrets from you?"

Stan appears taken aback by the query, but he answers, "N-not that I know of..."

"Did you ask him whenever he looked like he was hiding something?" Kenny presses.

Stan breaks eye contact, looking at the ground. There were seldom days when Kyle appeared that something was bothering him, and of course Stan asked him about it. But the redhead just told him not to worry his-self over it so Stan never questioned him again, and Kyle went back to his normal self. Stan shakes his head, not wanting to envision any memories of his best friend. He still can't believe that he's dead...

Stan glares heatedly at Kenny. "What does it matter? You fucking killed him so whatever you say won't-"

"I know it's not obligatory for friends to tell each other their private matters, but I believe that  _stealing_  a kiss from a supposed friend is not something that should be kept hidden. Especially when they're already in a relationship."

Stan feels heat rising in his cheeks. "Kyle did..that? B-but so what? Me and Wendy weren't officially together back then anyway. You honestly think that's a good enough reason to kill him?"

"Yes." A wave of chills course throughout Stan's body after Kenny uttered that lone word. Kenny moves on to Cartman's body, eyes seemingly darkening in pure hatred. "This fat bastard deserved death," he looks at Stan again. "You and I both knew this. He was nothing but a selfish bully, more so to Kyle but he didn't exclude us to pick on whenever he got bored with him. But do you remember the worst thing he's done? Not to Kyle, not to me, not to Scott or anybody else. To  _you_  Stan? Do you remember what he did to you?"

Stan wipes his eyes dry with his sleeve, not bothering to remember what Cartman did to him back in middle school. He forgot it for many reasons, and he's not going to bring the past to surface after so long of trying to forget it. "It's nothing worse than all the things he'd done to Kyle. Either way Cartman didn't deserve to die. In fact, none of them did!" Stan exclaims gesturing at their- _his_  dead friends.

"I'm not finished yet." Kenny walks back, going past Kyle and stopping at Craig. "Craig Tucker, where do I even begin with him?" He shakes his head in disappointment. "He hasn't done worse than Eric, but a crime is still a crime." He gives Stan a weak grin. "One word, drugs." He looks at Tweek, Clyde, and Token, who laid in between two females. "I'm sure you know why I killed his friends, so that leaves-"

"What are you the fucking police?! You hung out with them, and I bet you did all those drugs with them so what the fuck was the point in killing them over something like that?!" Stan exclaims.

Kenny's smile falters, forcing away the image of Craig calling out to him after school yesterday from his mind. "Moving on to the last two."

Stan falls to his knees, staring tiredly at his lap. "Kenny don't, just stop, please," he pleads.

Kenny ignores him once again, stopping in the middle of a female with long dirty black hair, and the other with disheveled frizzy blonde hair. "Wendy Testaburger and Bebe Stevens," Stan bites his bottom lip, hard. "Both were beautiful, smart, and that was it. Those were the only good things that were going for them. But I give them props for at least trying to be nice to others, even though it was so obviously fucking forced. These bitches were fake to the core, it's no wonder they hung out with each other. What the hell did you even see in Wendy to date her Stan?"

"That's enough!"

Only the crepitating sounds from the flames are heard after Stan's exclamation. Kenny looks to him calmly.

"W-what the hell's gotten into you?" Stan raises his head slowly, tears stubbornly returning to drench his face. "Why are you acting like this?"

Kenny doesn't say anything for a short while. "Because..." He lets his words hang in the air as he approaches Stan, his face softening. Once he's near, he gets down on both knees releasing the katana and hugs Stan. "I simply wanted you all to myself," he says in the crook of Stan's neck.

Stan so badly wants to push Kenny away, the metallic scent this close to his nose is nauseating, but he lacks the strength to move any of the limbs on his body. "You're fucking crazy..." He closes his eyes, wishing for the first time since he had them for this to be nothing but another nightmare. He's mighty tired, and he hopes to God that when he wakes up everything that's happened today will be reverted back to complete normalcy.

Chuckling softly, Kenny pulls back slightly. He smiles tenderly at Stan's unconscious form, and holds him in his arms.

"For you, I'll do anything. Whether it makes you happy or sad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Huh? Not as long as I thought it was gonna be lol But the dream Stan had in his chapter does have some relevancy, though I don't know if I should make an epilogue for this story or not just for that. Also Wendy won't ever be hated in future chapters unless requested or needed to be for plausible reasons.
> 
> Words in bold italics:
> 
> Haori: A somewhat long kimono jacket with the deep kimono sleeves, traditionally worn over the kimono and obi
> 
> Geta: Traditional Japanese sandles with an elevated wooden base held onto the foot with a fabric thong to keep the foot well above the ground
> 
> Onii-san (I'm sure most knew this already, but this is for those didn't): Big brother, used in honorifics
> 
> Akuma: Has five meanings to it, but I'm gonna only put up one that's more relevant to this story- Demon
> 
> Sama (Another obvious word I know): said for people of a higher rank than oneself and towards people one greatly admires
> 
> Chiburi: A motion that removes blood from the katana by flicking ones wrist
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)


	6. Polar Opposite Attraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Waited for this specific day to upload this chapter, but don't expect it to be scary since I suck at it lol Hope you all have/had a safe and Happy Halloween!
> 
> Summary: Stan is a werewolf, Kenny is a vampire. Polar opposite creatures that despised each other. However not Stan and Kenny, they're feelings toward each other were completely dissimilar than the rests. They once lived on a single land, and cooperated well each other until the werewolves and vampires found out that they had very different ways of doing things, thus caused them split apart. Creating two separate lands that wanted nothing to do with the other.
> 
> But such an act didn't stop the two boys from seeing each other, even if it meant breaking the rules and facing the harsh consequences as a result...
> 
> Please enjoy)

In a lone beautiful world known as the Shadow Globe, there lived only two races of supernatural creatures. A long bridge aligned with lit torches was built in between the lands. Up North were the vampires, their domain was called Tempest Nights. A large manor that had a haunted appeal harbored most of the vampires inside it, primarily those of elite status such as the royals and the council. The others lived in Victorian houses, aligned side by side on the left and right with a cobblestone walkway in the middle.

Down South were the werewolves, Moonfang valley was the name of their land. A dark medieval looking castle stood tall over the small cottages far out underneath, being a home for the alphas and betas. The castle had a clear yet distant view of the manor across from it. They didn't have anything luxurious like the bloodsuckers did, and that suited them absolutely fine. They were able to hunt in peace, and do their own thing without the vampires nagging and complaining. Dubbing them 'abhorrent beasts' while the werewolves referred to the vampires as 'pretentious leeches'.

A full moon so big and bright hovered independently in the night sky, making it easy for two wandering boys to approach their destination through the woods. Though it wasn't necessarily needed, but the moon had been up in the sky for centuries now anyway. Because without it, this world would not exist, meaning neither would it's mythical inhabitants. Oxygen, blood, and meat weren't the only necessities for living.

"Kenny, I don't think we can keep doing this," a black haired wolf boy muttered dejectedly. The werewolves could choose between either being in their half-form (Half-human and half-wolf) or their full wolf form. Those that decided to be half's only resorted to full when hunting and sometimes during training, since in that form they're at their fullest potential.

"It's fine Stan, cuz we're going some place different this time," Kenny, a blonde haired vampire grinned. He forced them to pick up the pace.

Stan frowned looking down at their connected hands, trying not imagine this being his last time with the boy. Not only was he trespassing in vampire territory for the umpteenth time, but he's also going out with one. Who was a  _male_. Dating wasn't forbidden in neither land of course, however if you and your partner were both of the same gender  _and_ of different race then that was considered taboo. Punishment was sure to follow if discovered, and it was definitely not going to be a lenient one.

"We're here."

With his frown still in place, Stan looked up at the sound of rushing water and his eyes widened in awe. A reflection of a sparkling lake could be seen in his orbs. Dots of moving yellow light would flicker on and off above the water, a few fish would leap up into the air and create little splashes when they returned underwater.

Kenny turned and grabbed Stan's other hand, gripping them down in front of them and blocking his view of the pretty lake with his softly smiling handsome face. Hazel looking straight into sapphire. Stan blinked with a faint blush coloring his cheeks, but he held eye contact. Kenny released his hands to embrace him into a hug. Stan hugged him back while closing his eyes and smiling, his tail coiling around Kenny's waist.

"I love you," Kenny whispered against the crook of his neck, holding back a laugh at his boyfriend's tail unintentionally tickling him.

"I love you too," Stan whispered back.

Kenny pulled back slightly to gently press his lips against Stan's, a light breeze blew their hair and parts of their clothing. Neither wanted this moment to end, both hated having to sneak away just to be with the person he loved. Truly hated it.

Before the werewolves and vampires came to despise each other, they got along well and Stan and Kenny were best friends, ever since children. As they began to enter their preteen years, their feelings started to develop into attraction. Stan began to notice how undeniably attractive Kenny was, how his pale clear skin felt smoother than it actually looked whenever they touched, and his blithe attitude. If Stan had to pick which he found more appealing on the blonde, he would, without a doubt, have difficulties choosing because he loved  _everything_  about the vampire. Kenny started seeing Stan in a whole new light when he realized that he liked the other, such as the noirette's matching colored wolf ears and tail complimenting his features in a cute and also sexy way, and when he's in his full-fledged wolf form during training he took it so seriously that there were many times he'd almost killed his partner. It wasn't Stan's looks that triggered these romantic feelings in him, it was his sense of devotion.

They kept how they felt for one another a secret, but it was null and didn't last very long. Stan was the first one to gather up the courage to confess, and Kenny naturally accepted since he felt the same way too. Unfortunately, two years later into their relationship the werewolves and vampires wanted nothing to do with each other anymore and they both created a land of their own. Stan and Kenny weren't willing to break up because of that, no one knew of their relationship anyway, they still appeared as best friends to the public eye. 

"Kenny?" The wind slowed to a stop.

Snapping his eyes open, Kenny pulled away instantly, gaping in horror past a startled Stan and at a red haired figure in the shadows. "Shit..." He was so caught up in the moment that he failed to realize that they weren't alone.  _"Why him of all people?"_  Kenny pressed his lips into a nervous line.

"Kenny," Stan uttered nervously, his wolf ears flattening against his head and his tail tightening around Kenny's waist.

"Shh, don't move," Kenny ordered in a low, sharp tone.

Stan obeyed, keeping as still as a statue. The worst possibility that could ever happen to them had come true, they'd been caught.

"Kenny who's that?" The vampire asked inching towards them.

Kenny slowly brought Stan closer to his body, the action not going unnoticed. "A friend," Kenny and Stan tried not to flinch at that word. "What are you doing out here?" Kenny narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Did you follow me?"

The redhead stopped, now partly standing in the rays of the moonlight. His lime-green eyes stared at Stan's back with a scrutinizing gaze. "I did. You've been acting strange lately, so I decided to investigate the cause. Didn't think you cared so much about your 'friend' to sneak out all the way over here."

"Kyle we've talked about this, mind your own business," Kenny hissed, deepening his glare.

Kyle glared back defensively. "In case you've forgotten since it seems you clearly have, your business  _is_ my business. We also talked about  _this_ , did we not?" Kenny gritted his teeth angrily.

Stan bit his bottom lip, suppressing a shudder at the hostility surfacing around them in the air. He knew of the history between Kenny and Kyle since the blonde himself revealed it to him during the course their relationship, and Kenny had every right to be mad at the redhead. But not to a point where he wanted to kill him. "K-Kenny calm down," Stan urged quietly. He carefully pried himself out of Kenny's hold, turning to look at Kyle with pleading eyes. "Look I'll leave okay? J-just don't report us, I won't ever come back again."

"Stan! What the hell are you saying?!" Kenny questioned in disbelief.

Kyle's expression turned cold. "Seeing you gives me all the more reason to report you two, and as much as I would like to do that, I won't. Mainly for Kenny's sake," he glared at Stan with pure malice in his eyes. "I could care less what happens to a beast like you."

"Watch what you say to him Kyle," Kenny hissed once again, stepping past Stan and standing in front of him protectively. "If you tell anyone about us, I swear I'll make you regret it."

Kyle frowned, looking hurt and angry. "Okay fine I'll keep my mouth shut," he pointed at Stan. "So long as I never see him here again." He spun and marched back home in infuriated strides, although a smirk was forming on his lips.

Kenny breathed out a deep sigh once he's gone. He turned around frowning sadly at Stan. "Sorry you had to go through that."

Stan shook his head. "The vampires hate us that much huh?" He smiled with obvious force.

"Not me," Kenny hugged him again. "I could never hate you. I love you."

Stan hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around Kenny's torso. "Yeah, me too."

Kenny pulled back and gave Stan a quick kiss, he held his hand mustering up a small grin. "Let's get you back home." Stan mimicked his smile weakly with a nod.

* * *

Nights passed by boringly for Kenny, it felt as though it's been weeks since he last saw Stan. When in reality it's been five nights, really close to a week though. Kyle had been watching Kenny like a hawk since that night he spotted the blonde with a male werewolf, leaving no gaps for Kenny to sneak off and go see Stan. Even though it was irking Kenny's nerves, at least Kyle was keeping true to his word, and that's all that mattered.

Until Kenny couldn't stand it any longer. He could not endure the isolation from his boyfriend no more.

So one night, Kenny took a chance to sneak over to Moonfang valley. Scanning his surroundings attentively as he neared the bridge, mainly for a certain red haired vampire who'd been acting like an observant hound as of late. Kenny shook his head at Kyle's behavior, it's ridiculous honestly though he should feel a little bit fortunate that it was Kyle who saw them instead. If it had of been any other vampire, they would've been outed that same night without hesitation.

Crossing over the bridge was an easy feat, the guards that were supposed to be supervising it were always asleep so it wasn't a problem to slip by them. Sucks to have that job. Upon entering the village, Kenny concealed his presence completely as he always did and made his way towards Stan's home. It was also easy to get Stan out of the cottage, he and his father were the only ones who lived there and the man was seldom home out doing who knew what. The small house was basically Stan's, though Stan himself didn't want to admit it.

Kenny stopped by the back window, which happened to be the noirette's room.  _"Stan,"_ Kenny called for the boy telepathically, frowning when he didn't receive an instant response. Plus detecting the smell of blood wafting around in the air, however it wasn't rich. Kenny scrunched up his face.  _"What the hell?"_ Footsteps along with some voices filled the serene silence, Kenny gritted his teeth.  _"Damn it, I'll come back another time then."_

Feeling unsatisfied and a bit uneasy at another night without Stan, Kenny hurried back over to the bridge and teleported home.

Two more nights passed by, officially making it a week. It's been one full week, and Kenny wasn't so sure if he could last even one more minute without being next to his werewolf. Unaware that today was finally going to be the day, however their reunion wasn't going to be a happy one.

Kenny was laying on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling when someone knocked on his door. He sighed. "What is it Kare?"

"W-we're all being called outside," Karen said, sounding very nervous.

 _"Seriously?"_ Kenny sighed again, annoyed instead of being equally nervous as his little sister. The only time they've had gatherings outside in the village square was when either the werewolves or vampires wanted to talk or negotiate something for everyone to hear. The werewolves would come over to Tempest Nights if they had something to discuss, and the vampires to Moonfang valley for akin matters.

Kenny sat up, slipped on some mocha colored slippers that was by his bed and ambled towards his bedroom door. He opened it seeing his sister stood by the stair railing down the hall, she turned her head back upon hearing Kenny opening the door. She was frowning, clearly still anxious.

Curling his lips into a small smile, Kenny approached her. "C'mon." He walked past her down the stairs, Karen followed. The front door was left ajar for them, and they walked out, Karen closing the door behind her. Further down was a large group of people, Kenny fought back a giddy smile at the thought of seeing Stan again at long last as he and Karen neared the crowd, standing next to their mother, father, and older brother.

There were murmurs all around, but Kenny didn't care what they were muttering about because Stan was that mattered to him. He could already imagine himself grabbing a shocked Stan by the hand once the meeting was over, and discreetly dragging him somewhere barren just so they could be alone.

Someone clearing their throat signaled everyone to be quiet, and they all took the hint without fail.

"What is it you wish to speak with us about?" One of the royals, Gregory, demanded calmly. Standing in front of the two big groups were the superiors of their land.

A brunette narrowed his shamrock green eyes. "Stanley Marsh and Kenneth McCormick," he said the pairs' names in a heavy French accent. "I want zhem to step forward now."

Kenny frowned deeply in confusion, acquiring a dreadful bubble in his stomach. "Kenny what the hell did you do?!" His mother hissed. Kenny shrugged, he hadn't a clue but the unpleasant feeling grew stronger. He trudged up to the front, thankfully some people moved out the way for him. Once he's there, his thin pupils shrunk and his body went taut.

"Stan...?"

Stan sniffled. "I-I'm sorry Kenny, please forgive me," he whimpered, tears streaming down his bruised face. He was wearing long sleeves so Kenny couldn't tell if his arms were hurt as well, three lines of a scar were along his cheek, starting near his cheekbone. Kenny was currently going through a mixture of emotions: rage, sadness, bewilderment, concern, but rage being the dominant one. Who the hell hurt Stan?  _His boyfriend_?

"What is the meaning for calling them up here Christophe?" Gregory inquired, glaring mildly at the brown half-wolf. "Are you suspecting Kenneth did this?"

"Non, zhat's not it. 'ow about we let zhese sneaky little sheets tell us why zhey're 'ere instead, zhey're zhe main reason we initiated zhis meeting in zhe first place."

Kenny blinked, his pupils back to normal. "What? What did we do?"

Christophe glared at him for feigning ignorance, but before he could say anything Stan spoke. "W-we were found out," he sniffled. "M-my dad found out we were dating. I'm so sorry." He held his head down in great shame.

Gasps were heard and chattering soon followed.  _"Hmph, seems there was no need for me to tell,"_ Kenny heard Kyle say in his head, picturing the redhead smirking. His blood began to boil. Christophe ordered everyone to shut up, in French.

"What?! B-but how?!" Kenny exclaimed, panicking. He could've sworn-

"I smelled your stench on him you leech." Stepping forward was a pissed off Randy, his cobalt blue eyes faintly bloodshot. Stan flinched at his tone. It was the very same tone he spoke in that night when he and Kenny's relationship was forced to be disclosed. "I don't know nor do I care how long you've been together for, but I do not want you anywhere near my son ever again."

Kenny didn't hear a word Randy said, his eyes focusing on Stan's trembling form. "...Were you the one who hurt Stan?" Kenny asked in a strained voice, red flickering in his hazel iris'.

"Yeah, I beat the answers outta him since he wouldn't tell me flat out. Gotta problem with how I treat my own flesh and blood brat?" Randy sneered.

Red swallowed hazel in one swift motion as Kenny lost all sense of control, tackling the man to the ground and mercilessly punching him in the face. He was quickly pried off of the bloodied adult, trying to wiggle himself free while cursing at Randy as he was dragged away. Christophe shook his head in disgust, Gregory and few other royals frowned in disappointment.

Stan couldn't bear to look at Kenny, it was his fault that it came to this. All his fault. Fresh tears traveled down his cheeks.

Another person cleared their throat. "Let us discuss their punishment then," declared Gerald, a member of the council.

Kenny was sentenced to four years of confinement in the manor, it was initially going to be two if he hadn't of attacked Randy and nearly beat him to death. Stan was exempted from training and hunting and other activities for he was enforced to do manual labor for five months.

**......**

One quiet night, Kyle entered the manor, a cup of nothing but blood in one hand. He hummed a random soft tune as he walked down a few flight of stairs, wandered a long corridor with lit torches being light sources on either side of the walls, turned left, walked a bit more, and finally stopped in front of his destination. Two of the torches illuminated a figure inside the cell he was looking into, sat on the ground with his back against the wall in a dirty white tank top and brown pants in similar condition was Kenny. Silver chains planted on the left and right side walls were securely bound to his thin ankles.

Kyle smiled sadly at his pitiful appearance. "Hello Kenny." The blonde remained silent. Kyle reached into his back pocket with his free hand to pull out a golden key. He stuck it into the lock, twisted the key, and pulled the metal door back then entered the cell. He crouched down on his knees setting the cup down beside Kenny, he caressed the blonde's damp, soft cheek, gently forcing him to look him in the eyes. Kenny's dead eyes seemed to be looking straight through Kyle, but he didn't mind. He's used to Kenny's unfriendliness.

"All's not lost ya know?" Kyle leaned in a little bit closer towards Kenny's face. "You've still got me and we can be together forever with no problems." Kenny's eyes appeared to had darkened at his last statement. Kyle chuckled before standing up, and leaving the cell closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: A bitter ending I know, but I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)


	7. A Weekend Well Spent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Decided to have a chapter with Kenny speaking in a Southern accent. He may talk like this in future chapters.
> 
> Summary: Stan had initially planned for him Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman to hang out over the weekend, play video games at his house or the arcade, joke around (mainly on Cartman since he's the funniest to rile up), and well, just to relax basically. However, things don't necessarily go according to plan for only one out of the three are able spend their time with the noriette.
> 
> And he just so happens to be the person Stan has a crush on.
> 
> Please enjoy)

"You guys free this weekend?" Stan asks his crew as they board the school bus, heading home for the day. He and Kyle sit in a seat together while Kenny and Cartman sit themselves beside them. Students slowly fill the bus and it's remaining vacant seats.

"If I don't have homework sure," Kyle answers resulting in Stan playfully smacking his bookbag that he placed over his lap.

"That's obviously a no," Stan deduces. Kyle just shrugs uncertainly.

"God you're such a nerd," Cartman exasperates jokingly.

"And I'm proud to be one fatty," Kyle retorts boastfully.

Cartman looks to him with a glare. "For the last time, I'm not fat! This is all muscle, something you clearly don't have!" Mild anger erupts across Kyle's face, but before he can respond back with a witty remark of his own Stan interjects.

"Annyway, what about you two?"

The bus slowly starts moving out of school grounds. Kenny nods his head that he will be free to hang out. Stan tries not to let the rising elation show on his face as he nods his head in understanding, though the poor boy did notice him briskly avert his eyes away from his after doing so.

Cartman faces forward crossing his arms with a huff. "It depends on what you have in mind cuz I was gonna binge watch that new Netflix series all day Saturday." The bus stops, dropping off a few students before the driver moves on to the next stop once they're out of the vehicle.

"Oh," Stan sits back. "Well I was thinking we could either hang out at the arcade or at my place and play some video games, don't know if my parents and Shelly will be home Saturday so I haven't really decided on where yet. I'll order some pizza too if we do hang out at my house." Kenny beams underneath his hood at the mention of pizza. "Nothing special really," Stan then shrugs.

Cartman is silent for a moment. "Hmm nah I'll pass," he says looking uninterested.

"Shocking," Kyle deadpans. Cartman ignores him.

"Looks like it's just me and Kenny then," Stan shrugs one arm nonchalantly, though deep down he is nervous and happy at the same time.

* * *

When Saturday finally comes around, Stan has the great urge to change the hang out location to the arcade. But since Kenny doesn't own a cell phone and no longer has a working landline telephone at his house, he can't call and tell him that.  _Thankfully._  Which also means that he doesn't know when his friend will be over, he didn't give Stan a definite time when asked, just that he'd probably be over in the afternoon. So Stan told him to come over to his house.

Ever since his family left a couple hours earlier, Stan has been sitting on the couch in the living room trying to calm his nerves with the help of some random shows on the television. His parents went out on a date and won't be back until nighttime, and Shelly went over a friend's house, who knows when she'll return. He'd ordered two boxes of pizza an hour prior, they are sat on the small glass table before him, losing their warmth the more they remain uneaten. Next to them is a big gallon of soda, and two PS4 controllers.

After a few minutes of blankly watching a show he has no idea what's going on in, Stan grabs the remote and changes the channel. Starting to get bored, and very hungry thanks to the aroma of pepperoni pizzas drifting about in the air.

Sighing and tossing the remote to the side, ending up on a channel he doesn't care for, Stan decides to eat a few slices of pizza while he waits. _"Is he actually coming or not? Fuckin' starving here."_ Just when his hand touches the top pizza box's lid, there are three gentle knocks at the front door. His heart picks up a slight pace as he stands up to open it.  _"Jesus I need to calm down, don't know why I'm making this such a big deal just cuz it's gonna be the two of us here...alone."_  He shakes his head stopping in front of the door, feeling heat rushing up within his cheeks that he unfortunately cannot stop.  _"We're just gonna play video games, eat pizza, maybe watch some movies depending on how long he stays, and that's it."_

With a deep breath, Stan reaches for the doorknob, twisting it and pulling the door back to reveal his long awaited guest. Whose face is open for him to see and is smiling showing off his surprisingly white teeth, bits of his blonde hair sticking out under his hood. The orange setting sun unintentionally amplifies his handsome facial features, Stan couldn't help but get lost in his smile.

"Yo," hearing Kenny's intelligible voice instantly snaps him out of his daze.

"H-hey," Stan tenses up at his stutter, and quickly tries to divert the upcoming awkwardness by speaking again, forcing up a small grin as he does so. "About time you showed up, the pizzas were starting to get cold." He steps back to let his friend inside.

Stepping into the house, Kenny chuckles sheepishly lightly scratching the side of his cheek. "My bad, had to take care of some things at home." Pulling his hood off to allow his short blonde hair to be visible, he takes off his boots next to Stan's shoes as the noirette closes and locks the door. "Didn't think it was gonna take me so long, and damn it smells good in here." He hurries over to the sofa and sits down on it, suddenly making a face when he looks at what's on the t.v.

Noticing his expression with a raised eyebrow, Stan goes toward the kitchen to get some paper plates and napkins. "What is it?"

"You into soap operas?" Kenny asks curiously, leaning forward to get a slice of pizza.

"Not really," Stan answers walking back into the living room. He hands Kenny a paper plate and napkin then sits down next to him. "But how'd you know what this was?" Stan looks to him momentarily as he asks, "Unless  _you_  watch them?" Before grabbing himself some pizza.

After putting his food on his plate, Kenny raises his hands up defensively. "Hey I only watched  _one_  to see what they were like, and it just so happened to be this one you were lookin' at. This is a rerun by the way." He grabs two more slices, then takes a bite out of one of them, moaning in delight that sends an odd sensation throughout Stan's body. He hides it by getting himself one more slice of pizza. "Why didn't you order any wings?" Kenny whines with a full mouth.

"Cuz  _I_ didn't have enough to get them, mom and dad went out on a date so they couldn't lend me any cash." Stan pauses. "Shit forgot the cups." He sets his plate on top of the table then gets up heading back into the kitchen, returning shortly after with two plastic cups in each hand. He places one down in front of his plate, and the other in front of Kenny on the table. He sits back down and begins eating.

When five minutes go by, "We playin' the game ooor..." Kenny says. He'd eaten all of his pizza, and only crusts remain on his plate. He searches and grabs the t.v remote that was beside him.

Stan sets his half-empty cup down on the table, he only has one more slice of pizza left. "Yeah, but you seemed so interested in what was goin' on in the show I thought you'd forgotten about playing."

Kenny starts tossing the remote up and down. "Nah, watchin' it once was enough. Ain't for me."

Stan gives a short laugh. "Alright let's play then."

Kenny switches to the gaming station, smirking smugly. "I can finally get my revenge for that unnecessary ass kickin' you gave me last time."

Stan smiles seizing one of the game controllers, he presses a small button in the bottom center for the console to turn on. "We'll see, you know I always wreak you in fighting games." Kenny lightly hurls the remote at him while laughing.

The two boys played video games for hours on end, only stopping when nature called and eating the remaining slices of pizza until none were left. Once it's dark outside, they decide to call it quits.

Kenny sets his controller down on the table, then sighs leaning back against the sofa. He closes his eyes, curling his lips into a soft smile. "Jeez man, don't know how to hold back do ya?"

Smiling, Stan turns the game off, and flips the channel back to another random show. "Hey you destroyed me in Black Ops so we're technically even now."

Kenny chuckles tiredly, then gets interrupted by a yawn. He opens his eyes sitting up. "I'd better hurry home before I end up fallin' asleep." He stretches his arms high above his head, grunting when his bones pop.

"..Wanna spend the night?" Stan offers, his voice small.

Kenny lowers his arms with a frown. "If I hadn't of told my mom I'd be back home before midnight, then yeah."

Stan can't help but appear letdown at that, not able to crack a joke at his curfew. When he sees the clear disappointment in his demeanor, Kenny's frown deepens but in confusion. "I'll walk you home then." Stan gets up, approaching the stairs.

"Thanks but you don't have to," Kenny says, standing up and turning in his direction.

Halting near the bottom step, Stan stares into his hazel eyes. "I want to." His serious tone held no room for further disagreement, Kenny sighing out a "Fine" in defeat. Stan ascends the stairs to his room. Kenny goes to put his boots back on.

Stan enters his room, locating his charging cell phone on his nightstand and nearing it. The same bout of nervousness he had that afternoon on the school bus has resurfaced, this time in an intense wave. During the course of their gaming, Stan was treating it as a normal friendly hang out session, forgetting entirely that he was alone with the boy he'd developed feelings for. Though there were some occasional moments where he would steal a glance at the blonde.

The issue regarding how or why he came to like his friend is no longer complex, he's already acknowledged his sexuality. One of the main problems is coming out. He can care less about what his sister will think of him, he's more worried about how his parents will assess that their son isn't actually straight. He knows for sure that they'll be bemused as to how he went from liking girls to liking guys all of a sudden, but the thing is, he likes  _both_  genders. The second problem is whether Kenny is even into dudes or not...-

**_BZZZT_ **

Stan blinks, realizing that while he was immersed within his thoughts that he'd already texted his mother that he was going to walk Kenny home. She'd replied with  _"Ok, be careful. We'll be home in another hour or so"_  a minute after his message. He checks the time on his phone to see that it's almost 10 o'clock. He shuts the device off and unplugs it from the charging cord, stuffing it into his pants pocket whilst exiting his room. He takes slow strides towards the stairs, trying to compose himself. By the time he reaches the staircase, nothing within him changed. He is still very anxious.

 _"I've..never felt this way whenever it came to liking a girl so why now?"_ Stan wonders, slowly descending back into the living room.  _"Maybe..it's because it's my first time liking a guy..."_ His chest feels heavy at the revelation. Sighing quietly, he ambles toward the front door, slipping on his shoes followed by his jacket. Upon hearing his footsteps, Kenny gets up from the divan pulling the hood over his head and walks up to him.

"You can have the rest of the soda if you want," Stan says unlocking the door then opening it. He shivers when the chilly night air travels into the abode.

"Awesome." Kenny eagerly retrieves the half-full gallon, walking outside. Stan joins him, closing the door behind him then shoving his hands inside his jackets warm pockets. They begin their stroll to Kenny's house.

No words are spoken while they walk, Stan savoring the calm silence meanwhile Kenny relishes in taking a few swigs from his drink. Stan notices with a small humor-filled grin.

"You're gonna drink it all up ya know."

Kenny takes one final sip, inspecting where the fizzy liquid rests at now. "Yeah I'd better stop, gotta pee now anyway." Stan shakes his head laughing. He looks down at the ground, his lips going into a line.

"So..you had fun today?"

"Hell yeah I did!" Stan can imagine the smile on Kenny's face, causing the corners of his own lips to arch upward faintly. "It's never borin' hangin' out with friends. Well except that one time when we went over Cartman's to celebrate his 12th birthday, can see why he never did that in that past."

Stan chuckles at the memory, concealing the pang that entered his heart at the word 'friends'. He doubts Kenny will ever see him as more than that.

"I honestly didn't want it to end," he hears Kenny say earnestly. "We've done pizza and video games a lot of times before..but this time felt...a little different."

Feeling his heart beat increase, Stan looks at him in wonder. "What do you mean?"

Kenny stares ahead silently, expression blank. He shakes his head to rid off what he was going to say next. "Nothin', I don't even know what was I talkin' about there."

Stan looks away with a frown, clenching his fists. He really wants to know the meaning behind Kenny's previous statement. But he fights against pushing for an answer, thus the silence returns.

Before long, the two find themselves nearing the train track. They cross over it just as a group of mice skitter by their feet, Stan paying them no mind even though he saw them. He just isn't in the mood to freak out. They reach their destination in a matter of minutes, dim lighting gleaming through the single curtain-less window of the living room. They stop, Kenny on the porch and Stan by the bottom step.

Kenny turns to him, forcing up a smile. "Thanks for walkin' me home."

Stan reciprocates the smile weakly with a nod, getting one last good look at the blonde's attractive face. "See ya at school on Monday." He hesitates for a split second and begins to walk away, Kenny watching him with a conflicted frown until he is out of sight. He knocks on the weakened front door twice, his mother opening it with a yawn. He walks in giving her the soda as she asks him about his time over at Stan's, he rushes to his bathroom saying he would tell her about it later.

Stan heaves a deep sigh, he doesn't know why but he feels unaccomplished for some reason. It's not like he was planning on confessing really, he can tolerate being just friends.  _For now_  at least. He can't help but reflect on what Kenny said as he makes his way back home. Perhaps it's because it was just them, and they enjoyed every single moment together as if it was customary. If that was what Kenny was referring to, then Stan doesn't get why he didn't just say so.

The realization makes Stan feel a little less depressed regardless, believing that today was a weekend will spent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)


	8. Nightmare on Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: 🎄Merry Christmas!🎄 For those that read Valentine Academy first, hopefully you'll feel a little lighter with this comedic chapter. Also country voiced Kenny is in this one too to make this more funnier. Also also, the title isn't to be taken literally, of course this isn't gonna contain horror since it's a genre I can only read not write unfortunately lol Who knows maybe I'll give it another go some day.
> 
> Summary: Stan was in for a very perplexing awakening.
> 
> Please enjoy. If there are any errors in this, which I think there probably are, I'll check and fix them tomorrow)

It is that time of the year, a holiday that's well loved by everyone.

Christmas has finally come at last.

The weather in South Park is sunny yet very cold, the weather forecast from last night predicted that they would receive more snow later on in the day. Many kids relished their long week off from school, enjoying themselves outside in the snow either throwing snowballs at one another or making snowmen or other snow figures. Some of their parents are supervising them, making sure things don't get out of hand to a point that their child is hurt. The rest of the adults and children are basking in the warmth of their homes, either still sleeping or eating breakfast.

Out of nowhere, a scream loud enough to scare some birds away overlaps the laughing and giggling from the children. They stop momentarily, wondering where and whom the outburst could've came from, then went back to what they were doing as if nothing had interrupted them.

The source came from within the Marsh's abode, more accurately Stan's room. Said noirette is sat upright on the floor in his pajamas, gaping in absolute shock and confusion at a blonde haired male in his bed, who's surprisingly still asleep after the disruption from Stan.

_"What the hell is he doing here?!"_

There is a knock at his bedroom door, his skin complexion turning a near shade of the snow outside. "Stan what's wrong? Why'd you suddenly scream?"

He composes himself to answer. "I-it was nothing, just woke up with a bug crawling on me."

His mother is silent for a second. "Ookay," her tone was cynical. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, so wake Kenny up."

Stan is baffled by what she just said. Is she really aware that one of his best friends is in his room? He stands up and approaches his bed, he shakes the sleeping boy's shoulder. "Kenny wake up!" He hisses, keeping his voice low so that neither his mother, father, or sister hear him.

Stirring with a groan, Kenny cracks an eye open and gives him a sleepy smile. "Good mornin' Stan."

"Don't you 'good mornin'' me! What the hell are you doing in my bed?!"

Kenny sits up rubbing the crust from his eyes. "What'd ya mean? I always sleep in here."

"Since when?!"

Kenny gets a look of concern across his face. "Dude are you okay? You actin' weird."

"Of course I'm not okay!" Stan exclaims raising his voice little. "I suddenly wake up to see you sleeping right next to me, how else am I supposed to react?!"

Kenny raises an eyebrow. "You were okay with it before so why's it a big deal now?"

Stan is left speechless for a few seconds. "What?"

The concern resurfaces on Kenny's face. "Stan, we're dating. Have been since middle school." He blinks in wonder. "I think."

 _Dating since middle school?!_ Stan drops onto his knees, resting his forehead against his bed. "What the hell is going on?" He is extremely confused that it's starting to freak him out. He knows that he isn't gay, he's dated girls before. Kenny came out as bisexual during their years in middle school. But what lead up to the point of them going out? No matter how hard he racks his brain for an answer, nothing comes to mind. He releases an agonized groan.

"Stan, Shelly, and Kenny, breakfast is ready!"

Stan doesn't budge as he feels movement from his bed, next thing he feels a tug on his arm.

"C'mon man, we gotta beat Shelly to the table or she'll eat everything."

Shelly is known for being a glutton, but Stan can care less about food right now. Kenny huffs at his unresponsive attitude, but then gets an idea. With an impish smirk, Kenny gets down on his knees and inches his face towards Stan's neck. He gives it a soft kiss, repeating the action until Stan finally reacts. He flinches away spinning himself around with a deep blush on his cheeks and a look of annoyance.

"What-" Kenny crashes his lips against his, stunning him to a point where he is almost about to faint due to the whirlwind of events that's transpired so far.

Kenny is kissing him.  _Kenny is fucking kissing him!_  But it does feel kind of nice..-Stan stops his thoughts right there.

Kenny pulls back, showing Stan his sly grin. "Did that help snap you out of it?" Stan is once again dumbstruck. Sighing, Kenny stands up pulling Stan up along with him, his way of moving zombie-like. Intertwining their hands, Kenny ushers them out of the room and into the hallway, they walk down the stairs; Kenny stopping to look at the many wrapped boxes underneath the Christmas tree. A pang stabs at his chest, but he disregards it as he and Stan continue on their way towards the dining room. Sat at the table are Sharon, Randy, and Shelly, they are already eating.

"Awesooome," Kenny breathes out in awe, nearing the nearly full table and sitting down. "Wish we could have this much food every breakfast." Stan just stands behind his chair next to Kenny's, staring off into space.

Sharon giggles at Kenny's last statement. "Merry Christmas boys," she says smiling.

Kenny returns the smile. "Merry Christmas everybody." It actually slipped his mind until he saw the Christmas tree, blaming Stan for his odd behavior earlier. Perhaps he's just having one of his moments, it's the only logical reasoning he can think of.

Shelly cocks an eyebrow of slight curiosity when she looks at her motionless brother. "What the hell's wrong with the turd? You fucked him too hard last night that he can't sit down?" Kenny bursts out laughing, camouflaging his embarrassment as Sharon and Randy are flabbergasted. Hearing Kenny's laughter pushes Stan out of his daze.

"Shelly watch your language! It's too early for that," Sharon scolds.

Randy glares at his daughter. "Yeah, are you trying to make me lose my appetite?" Shelly just shrugs nonchalantly, and resumes eating.

Not bothering to question what they were talking about, Stan sits down, forcing himself to eat even though he's still not in the mood to do so. Thankfully during breakfast only small talk was made, Sharon asking everyone at the table what they're plans are for today. Shelly answered that she wanted to open her presents already, but was declined and told to wait until later. All Stan wanted to do was stay at home and sort his supposed dating situation out, though he didn't voice that out loud. Kenny, however, said that he and Stan were going over to Token's later because he was celebrating Christmas at his place. Turned out the Black family had scheduled the party a week in advance during this month, nearly everyone in town might go to it.

Was it too late to say he's sick so that he didn't have to go?

After breakfast, Stan and Kenny go back to the noirette's room to wash up and get dressed. Well, that was the plan until-

"Kenny, what're you doing?" Stan questions, lacking the appropriate expression to showcase his disbelief.

"Gettin' some clothes to wear," Kenny replies rummaging through  _Stan's_ dresser for some of  _his_  clothes.

The blonde's straightforward answer gives Stan the boost he needs to appear shocked. "You mean my clothes!" He marches over to his dresser, Kenny had laid his choice of clothing on top it. "This is  _my_  shirt, these are  _my_  pants, and-" He pauses, growing disgusted when he sees his boxers. "My underwear too?! Dude are you fucking serious?!"

Kenny lets out a sheepish laugh, his cheeks a bright pink. "Okay I admit the underwear is goin' a bit overboard, but-"

Stan narrows his eyes. "It's  _more_  than just a bit overboard."

"Wait lemme explain-"

" _Explain_ why you're here as if this is your home." Stan has had it with this overwhelming confusion, he wants answers and he wants them  _now_. "I want full, truthful details Kenny."

Kenny eyes him with a frown. "Stan, what the hell's up with you? You suddenly sufferin' from memory loss?"

Stan heaves a tired sigh. "Probably since I don't remember us dating." He cringes slightly.

Kenny winces. "Ouch, the way you said that stung."

Stan sighs a second time. "Whatever, we can talk about this after we get dressed. But." He makes a face. "Are you really gonna wear my clothes? If you're living here, don't you have some of your own?"

Kenny's expression saddens at his question. "Wow, guess you really don't remember anything. I mean I do have  _some_  clothes, but the rest of my stuff got burned in the house fire." He shuts his eyes just as they're about to water. "I'm the only one who survived."

It all comes crashing down on Stan, leaving him guilt-ridden.  _"Oh yeah...the McCormick's house got caught on fire. Don't remember when though, but it must've been not too long ago."_ "Shit, sorry Kenny. Can't believe I'd forgotten that."

"Don't sweat it, it's best to forget the bad things that happened in life. At least that's what Kyle told me."

 _Kyle._ "Does Kyle know that we're..." Stan trails off, unable to say the word again.

"Yeah, Cartman does too. In fact, everyone we're close with knows that we're datin'." Stan doesn't seem too happy about the idea of  _everyone_ knowing of their relationship, and Kenny notices. But he says nothing of it. Without another word, Kenny grabs his (Stan's) clothes and walks into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Hearing the sound of rushing water makes Stan realize that Kenny is no longer in the room, he looks at the surface of his dresser. "He still took my underwear," he mutters shaking his head with slight mirth.

🎄

When nighttime arrives, Stan and Kenny are in the process of getting suitably dressed for the Christmas party. They'd opened their gifts an hour or two prior, Stan had gotten a Christmas card filled with some money, a new video game, and clothes from his mother while all his father gave him was a pack of underwear. Seemed he knew that Kenny had been wearing his how? Stan did not even think to ask. He'd also gotten five bucks from Shelly, something he least expected to receive from his bully of a sister. She was hardly ever generous to give anyone money. But when it was his turn, he confessed that he had nothing to give her thus she took her money back. Which was to be expected. He wasn't about to give her the money he'd just gotten.

Turned out majority of the gifts under the tree were for Kenny. They were nothing but clothes, underwear, socks, and a couple pairs of shoes. He accepted them all delightedly, shedding some tears to show how grateful he was.

"Aww you two look so handsome," Sharon smiles surveying Stan's and Kenny's attire. She's wearing a jacket over her dress since she is also going with them, her purse over her shoulder. "Looking like you're about to go to prom instead of to a party." She giggles when Stan's entire face is almost red like a tomato's, Kenny handles the compliment well with a wink and a grin. "Alright, let's head out." The trio exit the house, Sharon locking the front door. They shiver at the cold causing them hurry to the woman's car. "Ah, forgot the news said that it was gonna snow some time today." She unlocks the doors, and they get in. Once the key is in the ignition, she immediately turns on the heater. They all sigh in content.

After warming up enough, Sharon pulls out of the driveway and drives to the Black's mansion. Hardly much was said on the way there, Sharon telling the couple that they wouldn't be staying out too late thanks to the snow. Afterwards she turned on the radio, humming quietly to herself along with the Christmas song that's currently being played.

Stan is gazing out the window, watching the buildings, colorful lights, and snowflakes whiz past from his field of view. The longer he stares out, the more he feels himself gradually getting drowsy. The music was low, and the temperature is nice and warm. Perfect combinations for a serene sleep in the car.

Soon, his eyelids start to slide close, and sleep claims him seconds later.

Noticing him asleep with a small smile, Kenny takes this opportunity to interlock their hands, resting them in the middle of their seat.

**.....**

Stan doesn't know how long he's been out for, but it must've been quite awhile since he's so reluctant to open his eyes.

"Wake up, we're here," Kenny's soft voice tells him.

Groaning as he comes to, the moment Stan opens one eye he instantly shuts it with a hiss.  _"Damn that's bright."_ He rubs his eyes to get them adjusted, then blinks them both open. He gets out, having to squint because the house was like a beacon with all the lights hanging from outside and inside it. He can also hear the jolly music from within. Stan regrets sleeping as he, Kenny, and his mother make their way inside. A few more people are following behind them.

"Slept good?" Kenny asks comically. Stan just grunts, his voice not ready to used at the moment.

Upon entering through the overly large set of double doors, the group takes in not just the amount of fancily dressed people, but the flashy Christmas decor. No wonder they planned this a week earlier Stan thinks, though he's amazed that they managed to decorate this much in that time frame considering the size of this house.

"Look, there's Kyle!" Before Stan can even locate the redhead, Kenny is pulling him in the direction he saw him in.

"Stan, I'll text you when it's time to go okay?!" Sharon calls out. Stan shoots her a thumbs up.

"Yo Kyle!" Kenny waves when their friend's lime-green eyes spot him and Stan coming towards him. "Thought you only celebrated Han-whatever the hell it's called."

"It's Hanukkah," Kyle rectifies. "And I'm only here cuz of Tweek, wasn't easy convincing my parents to let me come."

"Yeah I bet," Kenny snorts.

Stan cocks an eyebrow. "What's Tweek got to do with you coming here?"

Kyle copies his bewildered expression, but before he can explain Tweek is walking towards them with two red cups in each hand. He gives Kyle one. "Thanks Tweeky."

"I-Ngh-made sure that they weren't s-spiked or had anything poisonous in them," Tweek assures earning a chuckle from Kyle.

"They're goin' out," Kenny points out simply.

"..Oh..." Is all Stan is able to say.

"Where's the rest of your crew at?" Kenny asks, addressing Tweek.

The crazy haired blonde gives a weak twitch. "L-last time I saw them they were with-Ngh-Cartman tryin' to stop him from eating all the s-snacks and other food."

Kenny laughs. "Of course his fatass would only be here just to eat."

"It's typical of him," Kyle agrees with another chuckle.

The next five minutes was spent with idle talk, Kenny and Kyle doing most of the socializing with Tweek jumping in either when addressed or wanted to voice his thoughts. During that time, Stan's mind was elsewhere. He listened in on some parts of the conversation, then zoned out shortly after when he couldn't follow. Perhaps it was because he was still tired from sleeping, he wanted nothing more than to go home and do just that. Though Kenny would join him since he's been supposedly sleeping in his bed who knew for how long.

Once Kenny decided they grab some grub, a quartet of beautiful girls noticed them and walked their way. They were Wendy, Bebe, Nichole, and Red. They talked for a few additional minutes, then Kenny strongly suggested that they get something to eat.

"I've been holdin' back since this mornin', I plan to eat till I'm as huge as Cartman tonight," was what Kenny declared, getting laughs in response. Even from Stan who focused once the girls had showed up.

With Tweek leading the way, Kenny praising his memory, the group of seven go off in the direction of where the food and drinks are. Faintly surprised to see Cartman there not stuffing his face, though he's holding a plastic plate of food on it.

"You're still here?" Tweek wonders.

Cartman looks to him with an irritated glare. "Yeah no thanks to your asshole friends, tell them to let me eat in fucking peace. There's plenty food to go around still for Christ sake's," he exasperates picking up a meatball on a toothpick and eating it.

"Dude your suit looks like it's about to pop," Kenny snickers, the rest doing the same once they notice. He wasn't lying, the buttons on Cartman's jacket are greatly struggling to keep from flying off.

Stan suddenly feels his left pocket vibrate, he pulls out his cell phone to look at both the time and message. It's almost midnight, and his mother is ready to leave. "It's time for us to go," he says.

"Awwww, but I was just about to eaaaaat," Kenny whines, already holding a plate and some tongs.

"Just take it for to-go," Stan tells him. Kenny pouts, but does as told.

Kyle checks the time on his cell phone also. "Yeah we should be heading out too, would've stayed longer if wasn't snowing."

"Want me to ask my mom to take you home?" Stan offers.

"Thanks, but I'm spending the night over Tweek's."

"Why'd you even come anyway?" Cartman suddenly asks. "I thought Jews only celebrated that lame ass holiday, Hanukkah."

"Eric don't start," Nichole chides. Eric scoffs, and just continues eating, knowing he'll get an earful from Token for being mean to his girlfriend.

After Kenny packs up two to-go boxes for him and Stan, they bid they're friends goodbye and a Merry Christmas, then search for Sharon. Finding her waiting next to the big entrance. She has a to-go box as well. They leave the abode, quickly nearing Sharon's car and getting in once she unlocks the doors. She starts it up to turn on the heat.

"Sorry I had to cut it short, but did you two still have a good time?" She asks buckling up her seatbelt.

"Sure did," Kenny beams setting the boxes down in the middle, then fastening his seatbelt. Stan hums that he did also, though Kenny thinks against it. Aware that the noirette was spacing out during most of their conversation.

Yawning, Sharon makes an effort to hasten their way back home. Being very mindful of the snow, and other cars on the road. Stan fights to keep his eyes from closing.

"I'm not carryin' you if you fall asleep again." Stan just huffs in response, inhaling the foods' aroma to help keep him awake.

Fortunately, his struggle didn't last for too long as the Marsh's house comes into their line of sight.

Pulling up and parking in the driveway, the trio exit the car and walk up to the porch, Stan holding his box and Kenny carrying his own. Once the front door is unlocked, Stan and Kenny enter first with Sharon closing and locking the door behind her. Dropping their food off in the kitchen, Stan and Kenny amble up to the noirette's room.

Kenny pushes the door closed with his back. They both begin to take off their suit starting with their shoes first. All of a sudden Kenny gets a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes.

"Hey can you help me take this off?"

Stan turns around, and is abruptly pushed down onto his bed. He's left stunned for a fleeting moment, scowling in bewilderment and shock at Kenny who is towering over him, smirking.

"What the hell was tha-" Are the only words he's able to get out before his lips are captured by Kenny's own.

Stan tries to pry him off, but the blonde is unexpectedly strong. "K-Kenny c-cut it out!"

His words go in one ear and out the other.

Stan begins to feel terrified when he feels Kenny's hand travel down towards his crotch, slowly undoing his zipper in a teasing fashion.

"KENNY I SAID STOP!"

Sapphire eyes fly open with a start, Stan's body bolting upward in a cold sweat. Panting. What a..bizarre dream. He's really glad to wake up from it before it escalated any further. He exhales deeply, his muscles relaxing. He lays back down pulling the sheets over his chest, but is unable to fall back asleep. Sighing softly, he questions why the hell he dreamt something like that. And about Kenny of all people. He just can't fathom a reason thus his short musing comes to an end by light knocking at his door.

"Are you okay sweety?" It was his mother. "Kenny didn't sneak over again, did he?"

Stan feels bad for waking her up. "No, just had a crazy dream with him in it."

Sharon hums. "Okay, well go back to sleep. Tomorrow's the long awaited day, and family is coming over to celebrate." She trudges back to her's and Randy's bedroom.

Stan reaches over to his nightstand to grab his charging cell phone. He turns it on, hissing and squinting his eyes at it's brightness to see that Christmas Day is one minute away. Shutting his phone off, he places it back where it was originally and stares at the darkened ceiling. After a few minutes, he closes his eyes and allows himself to drift back to unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Well I didn't say that it was gonna be completely comedic...I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up next year so Happy Early New Year!)


	9. Study Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Kenny will continue to have a Southern accent until I say otherwise in another chapter.
> 
> Summary: Stan and Kenny study for an upcoming test.
> 
> Please enjoy)

Stan and Kenny are sat crisscross atop of Stan's bed, in the middle of them is one textbook while a notebook littered with scribbles and other unintelligible drawings on it's orange cover is next to Kenny, and a dark blue one with just a sticker near the bottom corner is beside Stan.

Neither had spoken a word to each other ever since they came into the noirette's room, and that was three minutes ago. During those couple of minutes, Stan and Kenny had been doing nothing but staring into each others eyes, unblinking as if they'd randomly decided to compete in a staring contest. When one more minute passes by, both boys' eyes appearing glossy from not blinking, without any awareness Kenny's eyelids slide closed and slowly opens. Stan inwardly cheers at his victory as he blinks, then rubs his eyes.

"I can't believe you lied to me," Kenny says, first to finally speak. Although his dull, soft tone had no anger in it. "You said we were gonna watch movies today." He should've known something was up the moment he saw the two cars still parked in the driveway followed by Stan's family in the house, usually whenever they have their movie date the house would be left in their care.

Stan gives him a guilty yet humor-filled smile, he doesn't want to do this either but they have to score at least a 65% on their test Monday. "Sorry Ken, but I had to get you to come over somehow." Kenny glares at him, his annoyance showing strong. "I mean it's technically still considered a date though, just with books instead of DVD's." Kenny starts to complain about how he had to go back home to retrieve his notebook just for this as he crosses his arms. "C'mon, the sooner we start the faster we'll finish." Stan grabs the textbook, and opens it on a page he remembers part of the test will be on.

"Ugghhh, do we gottaaaa?" Kenny groans slouching forward slightly, feeling his strength draining.

"Yes we gottaaaa," Stan mimics straining a smile down at the big paragraphs in the book. He so doesn't want to do this...

Kenny groans again. "Alright fine, what all we gotta study?" Instead of answering, Stan shows him the book and his eyes instantly widen. He takes the book, gaping at the left and right page. "The fuck?!" He flips the page, then another, and one more. "All of this?!" Stan nods his head saying that that's part of what the test will have, knowing  _exactly_  how he feels. Kenny drops the textbook in front of them, the look of utter disbelief still on his face. "We might as well fail, there's no way in hell I'm gonna remember all this shit on Monday."

"There's no we dude," Stan picks up the book, and flips back to the page he was at previously. "I gotta pass or it's gonna be my ass."

Kenny suddenly looks at him with a suspicious glare. "I thought yo fine ass only belonged to me, you been foolin' around behind my back?"

Stan holds back the urge to hit Kenny with the thick textbook. "Shut up, my ass belongs to me and me only. Anyway what about your notes? You jotted down some useful info, didn't you?"

"Probably, probably not," Kenny shrugs.

Stan gives him a brief blank stare before reaching for Kenny's notebook. He opens it to a random page, and frowns. He flips through more pages, which deepens his frown in the process. "Dude, there's nothin' but drawings and other weird doodles in here." He closes and flings the notebook at Kenny's lap.

Kenny looks down at it, then face palms. "Shit, looks like I brought the wrong one." Grabbing his notebook, he unfolds his legs and hops out of bed, ignoring the numbness in his legs the best he can. He makes his way to the closed bedroom door. "I'll just go home and-"

"Nice try." Stan stops him by grasping onto the collar of his shirt, he pulls him back towards his bed. "I know you brought that on purpose." Kenny pouts in defeat, tossing his notebook on the bed before sitting down on the edge. "You got your phone?" Kenny just grunts in response, then looks over to the side when he feels something poke his arm. Stan is giving him his notebook. "Take a picture of my notes so you can copy them later."

Kenny grimaces, knowing that he'll be up all night copying whatever information Stan wrote down. Which is undoubtedly a lot. "Thanks, but no thanks."

" _Kenny_ ," the stern voice and matching expression on Stan's face makes Kenny concede with a sigh and the roll his eyes.

"Fine, jeez." Pushing Stan's pillow to the side, he scoots back resting his back against the wall. He pulls out his smartphone from his left pants pocket, and turns it on. It's almost five o'clock.

"My notes are in the last five pages," Stan tells him. Hearing that damn near depleted Kenny's life force. Stan glances up at him with a small grin. "Just be lucky you're getting them from me, and not Kyle, Wendy or Token." Kenny now knows for a fact that he is indeed lucky, Kyle, Wendy, and Token are one of the top brainiacs of the school, he doesn't even want to imagine how many pages their notes took up.

"If we pass this, you owe me big time," Kenny grumbles as he begins to take pictures of Stan's notes.

"Yeah,  _if_ ," Stan says, eyes focused on one page in the textbook.

After Kenny is done, Stan suggests they quiz each other on what they know.

"Seriously?" Kenny deadpans. He says that  _after_  he'd finished taking pics of the notes.

Grinning, Stan gets out of bed and head towards his door. "I'll give you some time to look them over while I get us some snacks." He opens the door, pausing in the doorway to glance back at Kenny. "Better do it quick." Then he walks out into the hallway.

Huffing and grumbling under his breath, Kenny takes this opportunity to scan through each photo, trying to retain the questions and their answers as fast as his eyes and brain will let him. By the time Stan returns, Kenny didn't even manage to memorize half of the information on each of the pictures.

Stan sets the bag of chips down on his bed, then hands Kenny a can of soda. Stan remains standing by his bed. "Alright, you ready?"

"Hell no," Kenny replies flatly.

Stan chuckles at his quick reply as he opens his drink. "Quiz me first then. We'll each ask each other five questions."

With a bored expression mixed with disdain, Kenny looks down at his phone. "How bright is the sun?"

Stan stares at him like he'd just asked a stupid question, because, well, he  _did_. "That's not gonna be on the test."

"You don't know that, the teacher'll probably throw in some random ass question again to catch us off guard."

He isn't wrong about that, the tests and even some quizzes that they had had a question or two that didn't pertain to the lesson/s they'd covered. "True, but ask a question that's  _actually_  in my notes." Kenny does just that, in the end Stan had gotten three out of five right.

Placing his half-empty can down on his nightstand, Stan grabs his notebook and opens it from the back. "Your turn now." Kenny lets out a dying groan. Stan shakes his head at the blonde's silly behavior. "Fine, since you're being a big baby I'll give you an easy one." He glimpses down at a query. "This one's multiple choice, so listen closely. Which of the following is considered poisonous? A. Orchids. B. Poison Ivy. C. A Bansai tree or D. All of the above."

Kenny looks offended. "Are you kiddin'? It's B obviously."

Stan shrugs one arm. "Told ya I was gonna start off with an easy one. Alright, the next one is, discern if this is true or false. Gold and silver have equal value."

Kenny is silent for a few seconds, appearing to be in thought. "False." He grabs the bag of chips, and opens it.

Stan shoots him a smile. "Doin' good. Third question, well it's not really a question but define globalization."

"Siguiente pregunta por favor." Kenny flicks a potato chip into his mouth. "In case you didn't know what I said, I said next question please."

Stan blinks, dumbfounded at how fluent the blonde's first statement sounded. "Since when were you good at speaking Spanish?"

"Pfft I wish. Thanks to google translator, I say that almost all the time in Spanish class," Kenny admits with a cheeky smirk.

Stan rolls his eyes, and changes his question as kindly asked. But Kenny gets that wrong, and Stan asks him two more after that, making his score two out of five. Stan closes his notebook, then tosses it on his bed. "Jeez man, I really hope you don't half-ass this test. Or worse, fail it."

Kenny releases a loud burp, laughing at Stan's blank face. "I can't make any promises. Unleeeeessss..."

Stan knows this sly look from his boyfriend all too well. "Just do good on it Ken."

Kenny gets out of bed, and stands in front of Stan. "Oh I will, I already know what kinda reward I want anyway when I do," he says coquettishly.

Stan blushes at his seductive tone, feeling his cheeks getting hotter when Kenny presses his lips softly against his. They stay that way until Stan pulls back saying they should continue studying. Kenny tries to 'persuade' him into letting them take a break. Even though they haven't been together for too long, the fact that they were best friends before makes it easy for Stan not to succumb to any of Kenny's antics.

Their study session is put on hold when Mrs. Marsh calls them down for dinner half an hour later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up on Valentines Day)


	10. Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Happy Valentines day! No Southern voiced Kenny in this dark, angsty chapter. Also trigger warning: Mentions of 'suicide', and child neglect.
> 
> Summary: Kenny is new transfer student, and he just so happens to attend on Valentines day. Seeing as how he was single, and also confident in his looks, he was so certain that he would have all the chicks swooning and flocking around him to give him chocolates and whatnot. But that dream is instantly crushed when he realizes that he's in a school where not a single female student is present, and it only gets dreadfully worse when one student in particular acquires an ignited interest in him.
> 
> I will look over and edit this cuz I know there's some errors lurking -_- Please enjoy)
> 
> UPDATE: I edited it already lol

"Whoa, we got a hottie in our class!"

"How convenient for him show up on Valentines day. Lucky us!" They share a high-five.

"You guys need to calm down, dude's probably not even gay."

"Pfft, he ain't gonna be straight for long."

Kenny fights to keep a straight face over the classes perverted chatter.

Earlier he was slightly excited, the fact that they had to wear uniforms had already lowered his expectations of this school, but he still smiled upon entering the building. His eyes closed, he thought of the coincidentally of him transferring to a new school on one of his favorite holidays and immediately becoming eye candy to all the girls (And some males too he was sure) that laid their eyes on him.

But that fantasy started to crack once he felt an odd air surround him as he walked the halls. When he opened his eyes and slowed his pace, the crack grew larger and shattered into glass-like pieces, revealing the cause of the strange feeling. The bunch of girls he was awaiting to see turned out to be nothing but guys staring at him, the multiple pair of eyes containing different yet also similar emotions in them.

Kenny forced himself to continue on, but no matter which way he looked he could not spot not one girl anywhere. He'd even mistook one of the boys as one thanks to his short and slim figure at first glance. However what he was more concerned about was the sudden chill that coursed throughout his body, he knew it wasn't because of the staring. He is an attention whore after all, though he preferred guys to look at him with envy instead of adoration.

He was so preoccupied with finding at least one girl in this place that he failed to see a figure in front of him, leading him to bump into them. He apologized, studying the person as he did so. The teen had his back to him so Kenny couldn't see his face, he was an inch or two shorter than Kenny, slender but still well-built, and had black hair that reached the back of his pale nape.

Mysteriously, even though the hallway was already silent due to everyone marveling Kenny's handsomeness, the atmosphere all around seemed to had taken a dark dive after he'd collided into the noirette. Who was as stiff as a statue.

Ignoring the tension the best he could, Kenny went to apologize once more but paused mid-word when the boy slowly began to turn his head back. He stopped, giving Kenny a look through the corner of his eye that was enough to make the blonde's blood run cold.

Hazel met one wide sapphire eye that was peeking out under long black bangs, Kenny was too terrified to discern what emotion bore in that single orb. The boy then looked away, and walked off, probably to his classroom though he was empty handed.

After only meeting him once, Kenny  _never_  wanted to see him again.

"Alright calm your hormones you little predators." The teacher's voice brings Kenny back to present time. Also what did he just call his students? "Anyway as you can already see, we have a new student. His name is Kenneth McCormick. Treat him  _nicely_ , got it?" The students' voices mesh together in unison with lecherous comments. Kenny is told to find a vacant seat.

Maintaining his sense of calm and having already seen an empty desk in the back near the widespread row of windows, Kenny makes his way towards it. _"Just gotta hold out for three months."_ ** _'SMACK'_**   _"AND protect my virginity till then. If I'd known I'd be goin' to an all-boys school, I would've gotten laid by some random chick at my other school. So much for waiting for the right one."_ Paying no mind to the low cheers and snickering, Kenny sets his binder down on top of his desk then plants his stinging butt down in his chair. He leans forward propping his elbow on his binder followed by his cheek against his palm, he glares at the clean white curtains blocking the outside world. Soon after, their teacher begins teaching.

All throughout the lesson, Kenny fought not to look at the person that was eying him from the opposite side of the room in the last desk. Knowing whom they are thanks to the familiarity of the uncomfortable chill.

Just his luck to meet  _him_  again in first period...

* * *

Not even half of the day has gone by, yet Kenny managed to make quite a lot of 'friends'. However majority of them only befriended him to get inside his pants while the rest had other and thankfully not sexual intentions. He will not hesitate to beat some sense into these bastards if one of them takes it too far.

When lunchtime comes around, Kenny decides to eat his homemade lunch in a place where it is peaceful. No matter how good the school food is, he will always prefer his mother's cooking. Sadly finding a tranquil spot doesn't start off easy, firstly being his lack of familiarity of the school building, and secondly being his clique not wanting to leave his side. Kenny isn't blind, he knows they basically want to show him off, to flaunt 'Cupid's Incarnate' in the eyes of so many people in the cafeteria. His been in that type of situation before, thus further pushed him into being alone. Before parting, he asks if there are any places that he can eat in peace.

"Well there is the courtyard, but-oi!"

Kenny is eagerly making his way to the courtyard, even though he has no idea where it is. He's just going with gut-feeling, plus he wants to eat already.

After wandering around for about a few minutes, Kenny concludes that he is lost.  _"Shit..."_ The hallway he's in now is very quiet since he's the sole person standing in it. So much for asking a teacher where the courtyard is. He sighs softly, and resumes his walk at a steady pace. He frowns at his lunch.  _"Food's probably cold now, just how big is this school?"_ He looks up when he feels that he's not alone, stopping apprehensively at whom he sees.  _"Just fucking great..."_ The person that is somehow able to strike absolute fear into Kenny's soul so effortlessly is idle, and is also watching him intently through the spaces of his black fringes. Something about his eyes intrigues, but mostly scares Kenny. As the silence stretches on, Kenny is the only one who seems to be effected by how strenuous it feels.

 _"I gotta get away from this creep."_ He strains a friendly smile. "H-hey umm can you tell me where the courtyard is?"

The boy eyes him silently for a couple more seconds, then raises his arm and points behind him. On his right there is light presumably from the sun reflecting off the floor and the visible wall in the other hallway. Kenny nods his thanks, and briskly speeds past the noirette, not bothering to hide how freaked out he is. Once he's gone behind the corner, the boy's lips curl into a smile that will leave anyone mystified as his eyes darken. A bright blush coloring his cheeks. He continues to wherever he was going.

The bell rings five minutes later, ending lunch. Kenny was not able to savor his cold food.

* * *

It is now third period. After being introduced to the students in this class, they greet him back appropriately unlike the others in his first and second class.

But then he sees  _him_ , the 'creeper'; a name he has decided to refer to the boy as since he has yet to know his real name. Whenever the teachers did roll call, they purposely skipped the noirette's name for some reason. It left him really curious, wondering if he's a well-known skipper or something. But he honestly didn't want to be associated with the dude at all so he shoved his curiosity away.

Kenny sits in a seat in the middle row, which is unfortunately close to the creeper, who is fortunately sitting in the back. As the teaching dragged on, it became increasingly difficult to focus. How is one suppose to endure the unyielding pressure being directed at the back of your head? Kenny feels that a hole might inevitably appear in his skull the longer the obvious individual keeps this up. Not only that but the big decrease in his body temperature doubled his anxiety.

Having had enough thirty seconds later, Kenny's arm shoots upward. "Can I go the restroom?" Once he is granted permission, he hurries out of the room, giving the others the impression that he was in a tight.

 _"Finally."_ Kenny breathes out a sigh, his muscles beginning to relax. As he ambles down the hall, clueless as to where the restrooms are located, he can't help but wonder what that creeper's deal is. He doesn't hate him for bumping into him earlier, does he? Or is it something else entirely, like he's captivated by him? Well Kenny understands that no one can resist his good looks, but he got a totally different vibe from the noirette. No, rather he's unreadable, plus very creepy on top of that. Kenny shudders at a brief mental image of the boy's piercing sapphire eyes.  _"I don't wanna be here anymore."_ But then he shakes his head, taking back the thought.  _"No, I gotta hold out. As long as he doesn't touch me-"_ His train of thought is interrupted when he bumps into someone. Again.

"Shit sorry," Kenny apologizes, trying not to appear uneasy at the male's towering height. Is this guy really a student? Three boys accompanied him.

Amber orbs glare down at him in annoyance, making him feel small and a little bit intimidated. "Relax Craig, he's new," a brunette says. With a tch, the tall noirette brushes past Kenny with his group following after him, the brunette winking at Kenny and mouthing, 'You owe me'.

Blinking dubiously, Kenny glances back at the quartet, then proceeds his search for the restrooms. It's best not to ask them where they are.

"Are you lost again?"

Kenny is startled by the abrupt soft voice, stopping and looking to see who asked that. His eyes once again meet sapphire, the boy standing in the other hall of the intersection. Okay this encounter doesn't sit well with Kenny, just why is he out here anyway?

Kenny gives him a deep frown, causing the boy to do the same but in confusion. "Look I don't mean to be a dick, but could you stop bothering me? I dunno if you hate me or something for bumping into you this morning, but you're seriously startin' to freak me out now with your staring in class." Slowly, the noirette's whole demeanor changes. Being unreadable again. Kenny tenses. "If you got somethin' to say, then say it. If you want me to apologize again, I'll-"

"Excuse me?"

With a faint jolt of the shoulders, Kenny spins around to see a boy with long dark brown hair tied into a low ponytail and black eyes approaching him.

"The teacher figured you were lost so he sent me out to guide you to the restrooms," the brunette says sounding a little timid. "My name is Fenix by the way."

The shock quickly wearing down, Kenny forces up a small smile, failing to hide his embarrassment. He hopes he didn't hear their conversation. "Thanks, still don't know my way around here yet."

Fenix nods his head in understanding, then asks, "Who were you talking to just now?"

Seems he did hear what they were talking about. Even though Kenny really doesn't want to admit it, he's not going to be rude and dismiss the noirette's presence. Keeping his composure, Kenny jabs a thumb behind him at the boy in the other hall. "Him." Then turns to face him.

Fenix takes a few steps forward, peeking past the blonde to see a bare corridor. "Umm, I don't see anybody."

 _"..What...?"_ Somehow, those harmless words sends a strong wave of chills down Kenny's spine. He stares at the noirette, who he can see as plain as day. "What do you mean? He's right there."

Fenix gets a worried look across his face. "I really don't see anyone, we're the only ones in the hallway."

That can't be true, there's just no way. "No trust me, there is someone  _literally_  standing right in the other hall! He's wearing our uniform!"

"It's no use." Kenny freezes, his pupils constricting. "No one else but you can see, hear, and apparently touch me."

Immense fear renders Kenny into a numb state. The longer he stares at the black haired boy, whose lips are curling into an eerie smirk in false reality, the more he feels himself being drawn away from the world.  _"N-no fucking way...Is this guy..a ghost?!"_

Fenix grows deeply concerned at Kenny's pale and appalled appearance. Before he can suggest taking him to the infirmary, Kenny suddenly regains his senses and starts walking. "L-let's just go."

With his innocent smile descending into a hurt frown, the ghostly white noirette watches Kenny's back for a minute then vanishes.

***After School***

Amid the shrill ringing of the school bell, Kenny gets up and taps a classmate's shoulder for his attention while the others exit the classroom, happy to finally be going home. One student, however, is far more focused on observing Kenny from the last seat in the back; they both sit in the same row.

"Hey you know who that creepy kid is in our class?" Kenny asks, keeping his voice low so the aforementioned person doesn't hear him.

The redhead looks back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Who?"

Frowning at the possibility of this boy also thinking he's gone crazy, Kenny nudges his head back, not wanting to risk another lapse in his sanity from looking at him even for a second. "He's sitting in the very back."

The redhead's brown eyes glance at the last desk, then returns them to Kenny. "There's nobody-"

"Wait," someone cuts in. "You've seen him?"

Kenny and the red haired teen look over at the newcomer, he has messy dirty blonde hair and green hysteric eyes, making Kenny and the other boy feel unnerved. "Y-yeah, ever since this morning when I bumped into him," Kenny answers.

"You actually made contact with him?" The blonde mutters, troubled by Kenny's response.

His expression causes Kenny to feel the same way. "Do you know who he is?"

Blinking his eyes back to normalcy, the blonde's lips straighten into a line. "I don't  _know_  him, but I have heard things about him from some of the students. His name was Stanley Marsh, and he's actually-"

"Do you three want to go home or not?" Their teacher interrupts, standing impatiently in the doorway.

Packing up their belongings with haste, the trio vacate the room, heading to their lockers. "What were you saying?" The redhead says, interested to know whom this creepy kid is. The hallway is gradually being cleared out of students as well as the teachers and staff, though they either go into a classroom, office or another hall.

"Kenny, the kid you've been seeing is actually dead."

Kenny stops right in his tracks, greatly shocked to hear that though he did have a deep down inkling that the boy was a ghost. The other two stop and turn to him, the redhead equally dumbfounded. "Dead?! You've gotta be joking."

The blonde shakes his head, his eyes to the floor. "Sadly I'm not. Someone killed him. This happened like a decade or so ago. One day in September the coach found Stanley's body a bloody mess in the gym storage room. No one knows why anyone would think to murder him cuz he was like the school's #1 idol. He was nice, smart, outgoing, a top star athlete, and good looking so people assumed that the killer did what they did out of immense jealousy. When the incident was reported, one of the students was acting very suspicious and the moment he caught the attention of the police he fled. Making him the prime suspect of the crime, plus some students suspected that he was the one who did it anyway. They caught him the next day, but he'd committed suicide by self-strangulation. They found him with his hands stuck tightly around his neck. The reasons as to why he killed Stanley will never be known, and I think that's why his spirit is still lingering here, because he wants answers."

There is a long beat of silence. "Holy shit..." the redhead breathes out. How the hell did he not know about this before?

The blonde looks up. "Kenny do you-" He pauses, then looks to the redhead in wonder. "Where'd he go?" He gets a shrug in response, they decide to hurry to their locker and out of the school before they miss their bus.

Elsewhere, a dazed Kenny finds himself outside on the school rooftop. Stood in front of him is a blank faced Stan, his hair and clothes unmoving even though the wind is blowing tenderly.

The beautiful weather contrasts the topic that's about to be discussed.

"Now you know the truth."

Kenny blinks a few times, snapping out of his stupor and sinking in his surroundings. When he looks into Stan's lifeless eyes, he no longer experiences the petrifying chills surging through the entirety of his body. After being informed of this boy's true identity and past, Kenny feels a large amount of sympathy and guilt for him. "I..." His brain can't formulate the proper words to say, this is still so sudden after all.

"You pity me, don't you?"

Kenny frowns, he does. "How else am I supposed to feel? I just...found out you'd been murdered..."

Stan's face darkens. "So have others who'd been told, but as time moves on they began to forget and carry on with their carefree lives."

"That's them," Kenny says shaking his head. "I'm different." Stan doesn't look convinced. Kenny averts his gaze. "I wanna apologize for being rude-"

"It's fine. Just, it's been so long since I've been seen by the human eyes again that I went overboard with my presence."

Kenny lightly bites his bottom lip. "Am..I really the only person that can see you?"

"If you weren't then I would've been noticed by the whole school long before you came here."

"..True..." Kenny admits bashfully.

A brief smile tugs at Stan's lips, he faces away from the blonde. He eyes the blue sky that would invigorate anyone who gazes up at it. "Sorry I brought you up here, you can still catch the bus if you hurry. There is another exit that leads to the parking lot close from here."

"Wait, I have another question." Stan gives Kenny a corner-eyed glance. "Why haven't you passed on yet?"

Frowning deeply in bewilderment, Stan looks away. "I...don't know. I'd thought seeking revenge on the bastard who killed me would've let me pass on, but it wasn't. I wasn't sure if it was because I didn't make him suffer enough or..." He says no more, and only shakes his head.

Kenny appears hesitant to ask his next set of questions. "Have..you ever thought of visiting your family? To see how they've been doing?"

Stan's eyes slowly widen, a fleeting flash of three silhouettes appear in his mind. "F-family...?" They appear again, this time causing him to wince at the nip of pain in his head. He drops to his knees with a hand on his head.

"Stan?!" Kenny rushes to his side, setting his binder on the ground as he gets down on Stan's level. He opts not to touch him. "Hey what's wrong?" He looks at the noirette attentively, very concerned at the tears trailing down his face.  _"What's happening to him?"_

"..I-I-I had a mom...a dad...a-and a s-sister." The tears increase in speed at his next of set of words, his arm lowers. "They never cared about me..." His voice was barely above a whisper, but Kenny was able to hear how intense the sadness in his tone was. "Only when I did something praiseworthy would they give me attention, but it never lasted. They favored my sister more. No matter what she did, she received the love and care I never once gotten without earning it. I..I wanted my parents to do the same to me, without having to work for it..." Stan's eyes dull in color, appearing as if he's reliving his past as he spoke. "As I became older, I started to notice how unfair I was being treated. But...I wasn't brave enough to confront them about it." Anger and sadness starts to show on Stan's face. "I was such a fucking coward, I cared more about my parents' approval than my own well-being...I was so pathetic." Now only sorrow remains. "I thought school was my safe haven, I thought the friends I'd made were like a family to me. But I was so dumb to believe all that. School was just as bad - no, it was practically hell. I'd learned that even friends can be evil, they only hung out with me for their own personal gain." Hearing that hit so close to home, Kenny grits his teeth with tears building up in his eyes. "But I never let it showed that it bothered me, because...they were all that I had. Even though they were just as cruel as my family, at least they didn't..." Stan can't bring himself to finish.

Suddenly, a body presses itself against Stan causing his eyes to readjust, arms wrap themselves around his neck, greatly taking him aback. "Stop. Don't say no more...Please..."

"..." Stan doesn't know how to react, it's been far too long since he'd been hugged before. He can't recall his parents nor sister ever doing this to him whenever he did something commendable or not. But he doubts it would feel even remotely warm and comforting like this embrace, finding the strong pulse of Kenny's heart refreshing. Reminding him that he is in the arms of a living person.

_"I see...so this was why..."_

He closes his eyes with a genuine smile on his face, carefully wrapping his arms around Kenny's torso. All of a sudden, Stan's body begins to glow.

Sensing the quick change in temperature, Kenny's eyes fly open and he pulls back, his cheeks wet. "W-what's happening?" He wipes his eyes feverishly.

 _"Thank you Kenny,"_ Stan's voice sounded hollow, like he was close but also far.  _"Looks like I can finally move on now."_

Kenny blinks, confused. "What did I do?"

Stan opens his eyes.  _"You gave me what I've been longing for: Love."_

A light blush blossoms on Kenny's cheeks. "But all I did was hug you."

Stan smiles.  _"I've never received that type of affection from anyone when I was alive. It felt really sincere from you."_

Kenny's blush darkens, and he looks at the ground. "I-I see, so that's probably why I could touch you." He looks up when a frigid hand places itself on top of his, Stan is nearly transparent.

_"I'm really glad you came to this school. If it hadn't of been for you, I would've been stuck here forever."_

Kenny shoots him a bright grin. "Happy to hear that I was able to be of some help. Hope you can rest peacefully now up there in heaven."

Stan's smile morphs into a sad one. " _I doubt it..since I killed someone...."_

He closes his eyes, then his body bursts into a dozen of white particles. The gentle breeze sends half of them away. Kenny sticks out a hand to catch one, frowning faintly when it lands in his palm. It looks and feels like a tiny snowflake. Shortly after, it fades away.

Ridding away the resurfacing tears, Kenny grabs his binder, gets up, and saunters to the metal door. He doesn't mind walking home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Surprise, happy ending! I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)


	11. The World's Unluckiest Man Meets A Peculiar Teenager (Pt.1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: Stan is in his mid-20's while Kenny is a high schooler in this two-shot. Also this a Hanahaki Disease AU (First time writing btw) and Kenny's Southern accent is back.
> 
> Summary: Stan was born cursed - cursed with never-ending bad luck. At least that's what he believed. Nothing good ever happened in his life, his parents died when he was a young age, and both his sister and friends wanted nothing to do with him. However bad things didn't stop there, Stan soon believed that a spirit haunted him. He's been alone, suffering through this curse long enough to be in his 20's. The hardships of being an adult on top of his constant bad luck made his life worse, even more so when he bumps into a very unusual stranger one day.
> 
> Please enjoy)

Stan sighs, flopping back against his bed, just now coming home from another bad day at work. His  _last_   _day_  at work actually. No wonder nothing  _strange_  happened today. But it was bound to happen sooner if not later, Stan was so certain that he was going to be fired during the first week, but instead was booted the second week. That's the longest he's ever kept a job. Ever since he started working there, he wasn't able to work peacefully without something unfortunate happening to either him or his 'coworkers'. His appearance didn't really sit well with them the moment they laid eyes on him, his good looks overshadowed by the bags underneath his lifeless sapphire eyes that were nearly hidden by his somewhat long dark bangs of hair, and his pale body being skinny to a point where they were thinking that he was taking weight loss too far. They called him names and talked negatively about him behind his back like they were back in high school. So whenever their coffee mug burst in their face the instant they raised it up to their lips or their computer monitor suddenly going up in flames, Stan couldn't help but think that the spirit that hung around him exacted revenge on his behalf. But that thought seemed ridiculous so he didn't ponder too much into it.

Those assholes will definitely rapture his permanent absence at the office.

Exhaling out a deep emotional sigh, Stan's tired gaze becomes transfixed on the slowly spinning brown wooden blades of the ceiling fan. It is quiet, too  _disturbingly_  quiet even with the fan on. But Stan is accustomed to this, he doesn't mind the numbing silence anymore. He prefers it this way than it being noisy anyway.

After a few minutes, Stan forces himself up on his feet, having a hot shower in mind. Taking one after work always provided him with a boost to last through the rest of the few hours of the day, though he sees no point today since he no longer has a job. Loosening his tie first as he steps into his bathroom, he flicks on the light switch with his other hand. He makes his way over towards his bathtub, readying the shower head as he strips off his tie. Dropping it to the floor carelessly.

He stands still for a few moments, eying the spraying water and relishing the sound it makes when the droplets beat down on the tub. It was practically music to his ears that overlapped the silence, and that alone relaxed his tense muscles.

Once steam starts emitting from within the tub, Stan removes his remaining clothes, making sure they were out of the way as to not step on them when he's done, then slowly steps underneath the heated showerfall. Angling his head down, he sighs out again, this time in content as the water finishes soothing away the rest of the stiffness in his body. He starts washing away the sweat once he feels the burn on his skin, but he doesn't rush. He's also accustomed to this, him ending up almost looking like a tomato wouldn't be the first.

He does nothing to his hair, which is in a desperate need of more than just a trimming. He would do it himself, but his job leaves him drained damn near all the time, on weekends he'd rather relax, and he refuses to go to a barber. Just the mere thought of some stranger cutting his hair or things going awry gives him the chills. He remembers a few of his female coworkers being nice enough to volunteer to cut his hair for him one day on his first week, but he flat-out declined. Knowing them- or women in general - they'd do  _more_  than just cut his hair, and he'd rather not look like some dude straight out of a model magazine. Perhaps one day this week he  _may_  cut it himself.

Sighing heavily, Stan shuts the shower head off, shuddering slightly at the shift in temperature. He carefully steps out, damp fringes of black hair practically clinging to his eyes. But he manages to locate and grab a hold of a towel on the nearby towel rack, partially drying himself off with it then wrapping it around his waist. He picks up his work clothes, walks out and dumps them into a basket that contained some more of his other worn clothes in the corner of his room. He groans, he's going to have to wash clothes soon. Thank the God that has not once cared about his wellbeing for washing and drying machines.

The noirette pushes his bangs back as he nears his dresser, revealing a faintly slanted horizontal scar across his forehead. He disregards the abnormal brightness in his vision now that he can see again, opening some drawers and pulling out a pair of underwear, a random shirt, and pants to sleep in when he gets ready to go to bed. He puts them on afterwards. Once he's fully dressed, he drops the towel into the basket. Shortly after his stomach grumbles.

He frowns, appearing reluctant.  _"Hope I still have some leftovers from yesterday's take-out."_ Thanks to his near-death experience with the stove at his previous house, he's scarred from ever touching one again, and was very hesitant to buy one for this house. So he didn't. He saw no point since he for one hates cooking, plus he has no one (Nor would he ever) invite over. And besides his meals are only but three things: take-out, pizza, and microwave dinners. Yeah, not very healthy at all. Makes you wonder how and why he's so skinny.

The lazy man exits his room, ambling down towards the kitchen. Stan didn't notice this before, but once he stops in front of the refrigerator all is silent once again. That is until a car from outside drives by, but only for a short moment. If it weren't for the lights, his house would seem vacant and abandoned to those passing by outside.

Stan opens the fridge's door, feeling his frown deepen at what he sees. Not only does he not have anything left from the take-out he ordered yesterday, he also needs to restock on some necessities. What perfect timing...

 _"Gonna have to go grocery shopping. Fucking great..."_ His stomach protests at the lack of sufficient food.

Slamming the door shut with an irritated huff, Stan contemplates going to the store tonight or tomorrow morning. He honestly doesn't feel like leaving the comfort of his home a second time today, but he won't get a good nights sleep if he doesn't consume something to calm his gut. After a struggling internal debate, Stan ends up deciding to wait until tomorrow. Even though it happened merely two years ago, Stan has learned his lesson to NEVER drive at night.

The low rumble in his stomach disagrees with his decision, stopping him from reminiscing a painful memory. "Ugh shut up," Stan grouses with the shake of his head, clearing away the throb. He trudges into the living room. "I'm not gonna die from skipping one day of dinner."

He plops down on the couch, grabs the remote that was laying on the cushion beside him, and turns on the television. It's on the news channel- from where he left off this morning- not really paying attention to what is being said until just when he's about to change to a different station something the female news reporter says catches his full attention.

Apparently there's been a bizarre threat in the form of a disease drifting about: one where the victim would die due to coughing up flower petals. Tonight's victim wasn't the first, and they most likely won't be the last either. As long as this disease continues to roam free, no one is safe.

It's origin and cause is a great mystery, even scientists are looking into it. However one thing has been attained from this disease: whenever the person dies, over a dozen of bloody petals and even some flowers in full bloom surround their body.

As the lady proceeds to inform the citizens watching about this 'Hanahaki disease', Stan begins to get increasingly worried. Just how long has this disease been going around for? What if...he's been infected?! Considering his void of luck, it wouldn't surprise him, but then again he hasn't been coughing enough to have a flower petal come out of his mouth.

Stan shakes his head again with a weary sigh.  _"I'd better get some sleep."_

With a yawn, he presses a button on the remote to turn the t.v off, then gets up heading back to his room. Having a bit of difficulty going up the stairs since he didn't bother to have any lights on.

* * *

The following morning, Stan's car refuses to work. He knows this is the unlucky spirit's doing, because the vehicle is far from being old. He bought it just last year.

Stan tries one more time to rev up the engine, only roaring to life for like three seconds before giving up. He groans irritably, hitting the back of his head against his seat. He stops when his stomach grumbles, frowning deeply. He may be hungry, but he doesn't regret his choice last night. With whatever shroud of luck he had left at that time, he was immensely fortunate enough to have lived through the few broken bones and the deep gash along his forehead after the car crash two years ago. He'd rather his car be stuck in his driveway than in the parking lot of the store or worse, in the middle of the street.

Stan clenches his eyes shut, gripping the steering wheel with a shudder.  _"Guess..I gotta go by bus..."_ But then he gets a very perturbing thought.

The number of times his bad luck can occur in a single day is terrifyingly random, and also unlimited. Just because it happens once today doesn't mean it won't happen again later on. Stan doesn't even want to imagine the horrors that would befall the innocent passengers when he boards the bus; them suddenly getting into an accident with him being the only survivor (Probably), the bus suddenly igniting into flames...or...—

Stan slowly opens his eyes, lessening his hold on the steering wheel even though his skin is as pale as snow.  _"I-I'll just walk instead."_  This is for the best, and he's aware of that. The nearest grocery store isn't that far away from his home anyway so it wouldn't hurt to go there by foot. Plus he'd be saving many lives by being this thoughtful.

After calming himself down with some deep breaths, Stan exits his car, feeling a tiny bit better. He locks the door - who knows, maybe this is temporary. At least Stan hopes so. He can't afford to buy another car, especially now that he's jobless.

A miserable aura engulfs him at the reminder as he begins his stroll to the grocery store, envying the drivers that zoom past him. And envying them more at the thought of them going to work. Once he returns home, he's going to have to do another job search. Sighing, he closes his eyes slouching forward slightly as he shoves his hands into pants pockets, fiddling with his car keys in one of them and in the other his cell phone. His wallet is in his back pocket. He actually wants to enjoy being unemployed, even if it's for a little while. He's tired of working a job only to be fired on the first or next day, then having to look for another one right after. It's been nothing but a repeated routine, a very taxing one at that.

But he needs the money, otherwise he can kiss buying food, clothes, hell even paying bills, and his house goodbye! He has yet to have a vacation, he's heard of paid vacations and man he would love to try that. Sucks he can't keep a job long enough to experience it. He's been relying on his bank this whole time, and know he can't keep doing it forever...He then wonders how much money is left in there. Certainly not much he's sure...

Being an adult is such a huge pain in the- _BAM!_ then  _CLACK!_

Stan's eyes fly open in shock, quickly catching himself from stumbling off of the sidewalk and into someone's yard. "E-excuse me," he stutters turning around to see whom he'd bumped into.

"Shit my phone," the person hisses, Stan identifying them as a male based off of their voice. The man is bending down to pick up said device. He's wearing an orange hoodie with the hood covering his head, out in this warm weather. When he straightens back up, Stan's breath gets lodged inside his throat, not because they're almost the same height. It's a good thing the guy isn't looking at him, giving Stan some time to marvel at his young handsome face, subdued blonde locks, and narrowed hazel eyes that are filled with deep disappointment at his smartphone's shattered screen. He looks to be in his early 20's or somewhere between 18 or 19 years old, but Stan doesn't fully trust his intuition; having mistook people's ages before in the past. This guy's face is so masculine though, he could probably be older than him for all he knows!

"Can't believe it cracked this badly from a fall," the blonde grumbles. The orange and black tiger striped case couldn't protect the phone's front from the impact with the hard concrete below.

Stan instantly snaps out of it upon hearing the disgruntled male's voice, his country dialect fitting stunningly well with his attractive appeal. "I-I'm really sorry," Stan apologizes meekly, his cheeks flushing a bright pink. "Should've been paying attention to where I was going." He glances off to the side, rubbing his left arm sheepishly.

The blonde heaves a sigh locking eyes with Stan, whose body visibly goes rigid. The movement doesn't go unnoticed, but doesn't get questioned either. "It's fine, don't worry about it." The look on the younger's face says otherwise though.

"B-but still..." Stan pushes before trailing off. As much as he wants to, he can't afford to replace this stranger's smartphone.

"Well I mean, I'd gotten this for my b-day last month," the presumed teenager says. "Oh man, my parents ain't gonna be too happy about this."

Stan winces at his nervous tone, making him feel all the more guilty. "I-is there any way..that I can..." He can't bring himself to finish his statement, praying that he doesn't have to buy a new phone as reimbursement.  _Anything else but that._

"Hmm weeeeell, you could buy me another one," the blonde suggests waving his smartphone teasingly. Stan pales at that, causing the hazel-eyed male's lips to quirk upward a bit in amusement. "But like I said it's fiiine. I feel that I'm at fault anyway, was too busy textin' hehe," he chuckles scratching the back of his head. He suddenly blinks his eyes briskly, getting a look of revelation across his face as he drops his arm back down to his side. "Shit, forgot to tell him to give the teach an excuse for me not comin' to class today," he mutters to himself. Stan looks to him with a dubious blink of his own eyes as he lowers his arm. The younger male glares at his phone one last time, then shoves it into one of his hoodie's pockets. "Meh whatevs," the teen shrugs losing his scowl. "And besides I have a two-year warranty for it, but I ain't gonna get another weak-ass phone like this one again." He makes a face of grimace and returning disappointment.

Stan blinks again. So this guy goes to school. Now the only thing left is to figure out is if he is a high schooler or a very bold college student to be skipping. Stan thinks it's the former, then later questions why does he care? This person is a total stranger, his life should be of no concern to him. "I see...w-well I need to get going. I apologize once again about your phone." Just as the noirette turns around and continues on his way, hurried footsteps near and match pace beside him on his right.

"Where ya goin'?"

Stan pauses right in his tracks, staring at the teen with a dumbfounded gaze. He's at a loss for words, just what does this boy think he's doing? Abruptly following someone he'd just met so nonchalantly, Stan can't begin to understand this.

The teen in the hoodie stops also, turning and giving the confused adult a grin. Seemingly holding back a bout of laughter. "Lemme tag along, ain't got nothin' else to do right now to kill time."

Stan is quiet a moment longer, composing himself to ask, "Are you outta your mind?" He tires not to let his rising anxiety show. "J-just go to school or you'll get in trouble. Weren't you taught not to trust strangers?"

"It was actually not to  _talk_  to strangers, but you..." Stan watches the shift in the blonde's expression, fighting to keep from shrinking back at the intense gaze trained on his face. "You're obviously sick, I mean just look at how pale you are! Why ain't you in a hospital?" Then a frown of uneasiness forms on his face. "You ain't got that flower disease, do you?"

Stan arches an eyebrow of momentary confusion, comprehending what the other was referring to. He shakes his head, distracting himself from the prickle of warmth that erupts within his chest. Kenny isn't the first person to worry about his sickly appearance. "N-no, I've..just been through a lot lately." He breaks eye contact, feeling an imaginary dark cloud emerging over his head. He misses the look of relief from the teen after he reassured him. "I'm...the last person you want to concern yourself with."

There is a tense silence between them, Stan picturing himself being observed by skeptical hazel eyes. It's soon broken when the blonde haired teenager speaks. "Kenny." Uttering that lone name earns a combination of shock and confusion on the man's face to be directed at him. He gives Stan a soft, friendly smile. "Kenny McCormick, or you can call me Ken for short. We can get to know each other now, startin' with our names first."

Stan takes a few moments to grasp this change in conversation, but fails immediately. "D-did you not hear what I just said?! You shouldn't-"

"Oh I heard ya loud an' clear, but I don't get what you meant by that." Kenny stuffs his hands into his hoodie's pockets, maintaining his smile as he tilts his head back a little. "If that was your way of tryin' to scare me away, then sorry dude it didn't work. If you didn't want me to come with you, you could've just said so. Not like I'd taken no for an answer though." He shrugs once again.

Stan eyes him with a mixture of emotions on his pale face, his dull sapphire eyes wide and unblinking. This guy..is insane. He has to be. For starters, he was just about to walk with him, a total stranger, to the grocery store without even knowing! Did his parents, hell did the school not teach this kid about being wary of people they'd never met before? Regardless of whether they're harmless looking or not. How Kenny is so oblivious to the dangers ahead from doing this is something Stan cannot even begin to apprehend. Or rather, he doesn't want to.

No wait...what if this is another one of the unlucky spirit's shenanigans? It must not have been satisfied with tampering with Stan's car, having him come across a fearless (foolish) teenager would've given it the satisfaction it wanted. Since Stan has never met someone like Kenny before, he wouldn't know how to deal with him. The spirit also must've been the one to horribly crack the teen's phone. Yes that has to be it. There's no way it would've been that seriously damaged from a fall that's not even five meters away from the ground.

..Speaking of the ground, why does the bottom of one of his feet feel air?

"Dude watch out!"

**_'HONK' 'HOOOONK'_ **

It all happened so fast-- Stan feeling a hand latch onto his wrist and pull him back against a soft, sturdy body, half of his face being buried into their shoulder. Next comes somebody's angered shouts that's quickly becoming distant. Then the only sounds belonging to passing by cars, and a strong pulse fills Stan's ears.

He blinks in absolute shock, too terrified and perplexed to move. What the hell just happened...?

"Now  _that_  was dangerous. Why'd you space out like that all of a sudden?" The familiar Southern accented voice wonders, his voice so close and stern.

Realizing whose arms he's in, Stan jolts out of Kenny's secure embrace, looking flustered. Without uttering a word of thanks to the blonde, he takes off down the sidewalk, going back to his house.

Kenny watches him go with a frown, seems they weren't too far from the noirette's home because he reaches it in no more than half a minute, opening and slamming the door closed like he was being chased by a madman. It amazes Kenny with how thin he was, he managed to run that fast. The teen faces away from the abode, looking down at his hands as he places them in front of his chest. He glances at the hand that seized Stan's skinny wrist, then the other that held the man close by his waist. One of them still feels the cold lingering on it's palm, while the other remains warm - almost hot even.

He blinks though, when something black on the ground near the edge of the pedestrian path catches his eyes. He bends down to pick it up.

_"A wallet?"_

He knows it's not his, he left his at home by mistake. Compressing his lips into a line, he glances left and right down the sidewalk he's on, but sees no one close in sight. Which means this belongs to...—

Just to be sure, he opens the wallet, searching for an ID card or any other source of identification. There's a few bucks in one fold, and some cards in another. The rest are empty. As tempting as it is, Kenny leaves the money be and takes out one of the cards. It's a credit card, on it has the owners name.

 _"Stanley Marsh,"_ Kenny reads. Putting it back, he takes out another card- this one making his eyes expand in slight shock.

It's an ID card, on it has a blank faced noirette, his dreary sapphire orbs boring into Kenny's own as if he was the one taking his picture. Something he clearly didn't want, but was required to take. Kenny studies the man's unhealthy facial features a little while longer, thinking it's scary how the present Stan hasn't changed hardly much from his past-self. The only difference is that past Stan's hair reached almost past his shoulders, his bangs casting over his eyes eerily.

 _"He seriously needs to be in a hospital,"_  Kenny thinks with a flinch at the picture's unnerving stare, returning the ID card back into it's original spot.  _"Didn't think I'd get his name through his wallet though,"_  he chuckles dryly. _"I'll give this to him tomorrow."_

Smiling softly at the thought of seeing the interesting yet ailing man again, he slips the wallet into his pants pocket, then wanders around the neighborhood.

**.....**

Catching his breath, Stan slides down onto his butt, his back resting against the front door. His eyes, wide in both pure shock and bewilderment, gape ahead, not staring at anything in particular. The unilluminated house is void of sound, save for the noirette's breathing that's gradually slowing down. His heart pounding as if he's still running. He doesn't think about what transpired between him and the blonde, he refuses to. Instead his brain decides to be oh so helpful and envisions the young man's face, hair, and eyes. His mind has to be exaggerating Kenny's looks, making him appear practically like an ethereal being.

A cough unexpectedly slips through Stan's mouth, startling him out of his forced daydreaming. He then goes into a coughing fit, sounding hoarse and dry, as well as painful the more it carries on. Bending his knees and hunching over, he grips at his chest covering his mouth, panic resurfacing in a powerful wave. Why is he coughing so harshly out of the blue? Was his body not used to running anymore?

Thankfully, the coughs start becoming less severe after a couple of seconds, allowing Stan a chance to breath. He's gasping for air, his knuckles white as a sheet. His throat feels like it's on fire. That had to have been the worse coughing fit he'd ever had. However he doesn't even know why he had it, it just snuck up on him!

"Ugh..." he groans, hoping he didn't come down with some serious cold. He lowers his hand away from his lips, eyes widening all over again at what he glimpses in his palm.

A flower petal.

_"Wha-what the hell...?"_

Due to no light sources being on, he can't make out it's color, but it's light enough not to blend in with the darkness. Perhaps it's colorless.

Stan stares at it for a minute, unable to fathom it's presence. He's very well aware that this - this single petal - is the start of that..delicate sounding but deadly disease. However since there's been no reliable information regarding it's origin, he has no clue as to how he became infected nor when.

Perhaps he really  _did_  contract the disease all along.

Stan's body begins to tremble.  _"N-no...T-this can't be! There's no way-"_

A low, deep rumble penetrates the silence, and forces Stan out of his frightened state. He glowers weakly at the petal. "Tch," he tsk's, very troubled about his predicament. No thanks to his run in with Kenny, he's going to have go to the store another time...

He's starving - ever since yesterday - his throat is parched, and he has a headache.

To put it simply, he feels awful.

"Ugggh..." Stan groans again. With help from the doorknob, he rises onto his feet, wobbling as he does so. Once his footing is stable enough to walk, he goes up to his bathroom to take some medicine. First throwing the flower petal in the trash can when he enters his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next part will be ?)


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